Rysc O Imladris
by LadyPorpoise
Summary: Elladan and Elrohir can be like foxes. They are sly and fair, but when they want to, they can catch you at unawares and take delight in it. This was so during their youth, and they got a title to fit their reputation: Foxes of Imladris. They probably were not expecting to claim that title literally, in every sense of the word...Full Summary inside.
1. The Twins

_A/N The result of watching foxes on youtube being dorks and making squeaky noises. It was an idea for a while (among twenty thousand others...), and was planning on making a mini teaser, but decided to just go ahead and post it and see what happens, and depending on reception (and writing motivation), will expand on this when I can. But for now, I hope this will catch your interest. :)_

 _The twins are 216 years old in this story, and Arwen is 104. Tarcil is a canon character, Aragorn's ancestor when the North Kingdom still existed: Think him as grandpa Aragorn since Aragorn won't be alive for another two milennia. He is 66 years old, after staring at a timeline and doing math._

 _This is a character development sort of thing in which the twins are mischievous and pranksters, but matured and reigned it in and settled for good comedy/humor (to fit their War of the Ring personality in my canon)._

 _Tathardes at the moment is the only OC I can lay claim to and creative license. Everything else, is not mine._

* * *

 ** _Elladan and Elrohir can be like foxes. They are sly and fair, but when they want to, they can catch you at unawares and take delight in it. This was so during their youth, and they got a title to fit their reputation: Foxes of Imladris. They probably were not expecting to claim that title literally in every sense of the word, but some individuals learn the lessons they need to learn in more unique ways. And with the Prince of Arnor coming to visit and the Spring Festival around the corner...they got quite the adventure to be had, and a memorable one at that._**

* * *

 _Year 346 of the Third Age…_

"Ryscedh! Rysc! Once more you strike from the shadows and take joy in your mischief…You will regret this one day!"

Elladan and Elrohir held back their laughter from their tree. Of course their latest victim would start cursing to the high heavens for this last humiliation. A simple prank, really: a lot of honey and plucked chicken feathers.

No, it was no one of importance…well, if you consider Lindir unimportant. But all elves are important.

The poor elf huffed and tried removing the stickiness from his clothes and body and all the feathers in vain. "Oh, if you want a war, then you will get a war: I will write you the most shameful song in existence to your name!" After that final vow Lindir stormed off to bathe.

"Too much?" Elladan asked as he leant back against the trunk, now finally able to get his breath.

"Maybe." Elrohir answered.

"We better be watchful about that song he threatened to write."

"We are not stealing." Elrohir warned.

Elladan raised his hands. "No, we would not stoop that low, brother. We have our honor to maintain after all."

Elrohir snorted as he dropped down to ground level. "Yes, whatever we have left to salvage of it, of course."

"We have plenty! We are fine!"

"What is the next thing then? We have so much left to do before the morrow comes: the second of April."

* * *

Celebrían quietly held her composure as she listened to the poor minstrel, recently out of a bath, rant to her. She mentally let out a breath as she heard Lindir's words.

"…you must forgive me for my harsh words, my lady, but they do this every year on this day! It is no special holiday, is it, at least not established by elf or man? So many of us tire being subject to their mischief. It becomes so wearisome. Worst yet they will not listen to our requests!"

"I understand, Lindir, and I am sorry that this has happened to you…again."

Lindir bowed before the lady of Imladris and went off to his business. When the elf-maid was alone she let out a frustrated noise.

Oh, she loved her sons dearly with all her heart, but she did not like their tendency of being irresponsible and a bit arrogant. The twins were very young by elven standards and quite the example of reckless youth (barely having surpassed their second century). They were courteous and noble when the situation and station calls for it…but other times, they had to be little elflings again and let that extra energy out.

Those situations consisted of a shortage of honey in the kitchens, the coop being strangely clean of feathers, furniture that is not functional at all but not broken (dysfunctional could be considered broken though) …

And the worst of it all were their crude jokes.

Celebrían blamed it on their mannish heritage. She reckoned that blood expressed itself a lot more than their father. Still, they had tried almost everything they could think of to discourage this behavior: Glorfindel exhausting them in training, their father giving them more responsibilities to fill up their daily schedule, even gone to the extent of having Erestor beat them with his sage staff, which he respectfully refused to do.

The lord and lady tried an intense talk about their behavior…The twins cut back on their habits for a short period of time before reverting to their former ways. The twins seemed to turn deaf.

The lady thanked Eru for Arwen, who is a few years over a century of age, and she herself maintained her childish ways at times, but not to the extremes as her brothers were.

Celebrían marched over to her lord's study. When she entered the room, she was not too surprised to see Elrond had faceplanted onto the desk from frustration. She came to his side however.

"More reports of deceit and mischief?"

"Sadly, yes." Elrond lifted his upper half off the desk and stood up to face his wife. He had one of his strained smiles: a 'I still love them to death, but sometimes I want to kill them' sort of look. "We have no way to overwork the bees, which would not be a good idea to begin with…so I fear sweet things will be lacking for some time. The carpenter is frustrated that his work has been destroyed again by removal of the seat part of the chair, slanted legs, and wearing the table surface's wood thin."

"And poison ivy dropped in Erestor and Tathardes' bed." Celebrían pitched in.

Elrond waved a hand at that comment. "They will live…they have had worse mishaps before."

Celebrían sighed. "What else could we try to sway our sons from their destructive tendencies? I do not wish to rob them completely of their innocent fun, but they may lose the satisfaction in these simple games…"

"Bribe Erestor to beat them with the staff, but beyond that…" Elrond also exhaled and shook his head. "Another severe talking is all that is left."

Celebrían walked over to the window and looked out it. Moments later, the aforementioned elf entered the study holding a scroll in his hand, while simultaneously scratching his arm with his free hand.

"A message bearing Arnor's seal, master Elrond." Erestor stated calmly even though he was going to give himself scabs later from all the itching.

Elrond raised a brow and took it; Celebrían watched; Erestor fidgeted.

After a few moments of reading the message, the master of the vale looked at both elves.

"Prince Tarcil is making his way to visit us. His father wishes to revisit some agreements, though is unable to make the journey himself."

"So he sent the prince instead?" Erestor asked.

"Correct."

Celebrían seemed happy with this news and she smiled. "A perfect time to do so. The weather is fair and the spring is progressing wonderfully. I am sure he will enjoy his stay."

Erestor cleared his throat to get their attention.

When the lord and lady turned to the green-elf, Erestor began speaking with careful approach. "If I may be bold to suggest: have your sons go out and visit neighboring settlements, see if they can acquire anything for the spring festival." He slowed down a little bit before adding, "I say this because they are in one of their…phases, again."

Elrond frowned at this, getting the underlying message, before he looked at the parchment again. After a moment's pause… "Perhaps we should send them away for a time…maybe they can bring the prince here."

"No!" Erestor and Celebrían simultaneously cried.

Elrond blinked at both of them with the still arched brow.

Erestor resumed his itching after going back to his place by keeping silent. It was Celebrían who came back to Elrond's side and whispered quickly to him. "We cannot do that! Of course Elladan and Elrohir are very noble and well behaved when they want to be…but what will happen if they get too comfortable around Tarcil? We know not what will happen or how the prince will respond."

Elrond considered this, giving a sound of resignation. "Fair enough. We will not risk it. But we cannot keep them away forever."

"Do what Erestor suggested: send them to neighboring villages or on a treasure hunt."

The lord and lady looked to the itching elf then, who was still miraculously keeping his peace even though he probably wanted to complain loudly right now.

"Is Tathardes making the remedy for the ivy?" Celebrían asked softly.

"I do not know, but my wife could have gone to the healing ward to get it. That, or we ran out of the cream again."

The parents groaned audibly.

Erestor's patience began to wear thin at last. "Do you need me for anything else?" It was not a snippy tone, but just slightly off key to let them know he did not want to stay here for much longer.

"Have Glorfindel find the twins and send them here…" Elrond answered. "We will go through with your idea."

Erestor nodded, too quickly, and left, too quickly.

Celebrian and Elrond shared glances with each other and waited.

* * *

"You want us to…leave, for a while?" Elladan asked slowly.

Elrond nodded. "Yes, and check the conditions of near settlements in the meantime. The woods and fields ought to be quite lovely now. You should see it while it lasts."

Elladan and Elrohir gave him a blank stare. Elrond returned the look neutrally. Celebrían had a calculating, expectant expression as she watched.

"Is this punishment for what we did today?" Elrohir questioned abruptly.

Elrond kept his expression. "Maybe."

The twins looked pouty.

"Adar-" Elrohir began again.

"No. Do not _try_ to defend yourself." Elrond sighed. "And we are not going to lecture you again, since your ears decidedly go deaf whenever we do."

"But we did nothing that caused extreme damage!" Elladan exclaimed.

"Is hurting people's dignity among minor damage?" Celebrían questioned them readily.

The twins would not dare lie to their parents, so they stayed silent, which of course is as good as being truthful. Almost.

"And what is this new title you have gained for yourselves?" She continued. "Foxes of Imladris…both flattering and a bit shameful, if I say so myself."

When she mentioned shameful, Elladan and Elrohir went red in the face from embarrassment.

Elrond allowed Celebrían to speak her questions before he continued his own speech. "You need a bit more restraint in your indulgences concerning playing pranks on our people. You give yourself a neutral reputation among our kin by your dual personalities: fair and generous one day, mischievous and disastrous the other."

"Not everyone dislikes what we do." Elrohir said in a low voice.

"Not everyone has the same tolerance level either." Elrond placed a couple of fingers to his forehead. "No matter, I said we are not going to lecture you, and I will keep my word on that. _However_ ," he said sternly. "If this worsens over time, do be warned that it _will_ be dealt with, and you will not like it."

Elladan and Elrohir both flinched at their father's tone, displeasure and a mildly rebellious look crossed their identical faces. They both frowned.

Celebrían sighed sadly.

Elrond closed his eyes and waved a hand. "You are dismissed. You are allowed to return in two weeks."

Elladan and Elrohir gave forced bows before departing.

"They need to sulk." Celebrían shook her head. "If they do not like the chastisement then eventually they will stop."

"We can hope." Elrond replied quietly. "But it better happen soon, or else it will never go away."

Celebrían gave a small smile. "I am sure they will learn soon. They will be fine."

* * *

 _A/N Famous last words..._

 _Ryscedh! Rysc!: "You foxes! FOXES!" In Sindarin._


	2. The Cave

The twins left quickly, briefly giving their younger sister word of what is happening and that they would be gone for half a month at least. She looked a little disappointed: with them and their actions or that they would be gone during that period, but she said little else other than that they should stay safe and return safely.

Their horses were strangely ready when they arrived at the stables, as supplies were in the saddlebags already. In five minutes they were already heading out the gate. If they were closer they may have heard some sighs of relief from the stablehands.

A couple hours into their journey, their moods had not really improved, specifically Elladan's, considering his temperament was a bit different from Elrohir's.

It was indeed a beautiful day, with the sun shining and the skies clear; the birds singing, and the flowers blooming.

"It was not dangerous or harmful." Elladan said dourly. "I do not understand why they cannot get the joke behind it."

"Ammë…is right, though, about the dignity." Elrohir said, as he had thought about that issue and agreed to her reasoning.

"And? If they are concerned about the minor damage, then they can remake the chairs and tables easily enough, right?"

"Not really…"

Elladan huffed. "Or the honey issue…alright, now I will admit to that things involving honey is a shame, but other adhesives would be much more difficult to remove and clean."

Elrohir looked over his shoulder, reigning in his mount to allow Elladan to catch up, for the older twin began dragging behind after a while.

Elladan shot him a look. "I know you are the most reasonable, but like before, you will just follow me again and take joy in our antics."

Elrohir actually smirked, though it could have been an insult. "How could I not, brother? Their faces and interesting choice of words is not something to miss."

Elladan grinned. "Now you are back to normal. I think we are nearing the edge of the forest, too!" He spurred his own horse to a gallop.

The race was on.

* * *

Black and brown horse blurs with blue red blurs atop raced through the forest. They jumped over a fallen log. Then for some unknown reason Elladan's horse spooked and threw him off.

"Elladan!" Elrohir call out and skidded to a halt, quickly turning to see where his brother had fallen, his horse just prancing around the little clearing, not exactly running off.

"I'm alright." Elladan said after regaining his breath. He sat up and removed the helmet he was wearing and looked at it. Stylish and functional. He hissed slightly after stretching a minor scrape. "Nothing wrong; just winded." He glared at the animal. "You are not so easily startled, however."

Elrohir frowned and dismounted. The spooked animal quietly walked back to his master and licked his face apologetically. That made the twins smirk.

When Elladan could take note of their surroundings, he rose a brow. "I do not think I have seen this clearing before."

"We hardly go out this way; much less visit other settlements." Elrohir commented as he hauled Elladan to his feet. "Forests change quite often, even over the course of two years."

"Foresters perhaps…but they are so far away to come here."

The horses were grazing nearby, a little winded from their little race and scare…

Over what exactly, was still undetermined.

"We will wait before moving on." Elladan said. "They need their rest."

Elrohir agreed mutely.

Rest for horses, of course. There was no fine print about rest for the elves.

Elrohir stepped away a few feet and Elladan followed him, when without warning the ground they were walking on caved in, and they fell into the dark hole with a yelp.

The horses continued grazing, unconcerned.

"What have I done to deserve being tossed to the ground twice in the span of ten minutes?!" Elladan complained loudly as the dust began to settle and as he was untangling himself from Elrohir.

"You are clumsy." Elrohir said, his face was in the dirt, so his voice was muffled. "If we suffer from any age-related ailments due to our mortal heritage, I will blame you for ruining my back."

"Father will heal you anyway, so do not fret about that." Elladan answered as he got to his feet, and, again, had to look at unfamiliar surroundings.

What he saw was a little…disconcerting.

It appeared to be an underground tunnel, only it went in one direction and not another. The walls were a mixture of dirt and rock. What he found odd was the roots of the trees were disturbingly large, far larger than a tree root ought to be if it was not a giant oak or beech.

"Perhaps it is another way into the Vale: built during the war in Eregion!" Elrohir said excitedly.

"Why would they abandon it though?"

"Why would we would have need for a war tunnel if we are securely isolated and unknown, _and_ the fact that there are no wars or sieges we are engaged in?"

Elladan looked stupid for a moment. "Right…"

"Or it could be a natural cave which the entrance was covered by the overgrowth…very well done, given the odds."

Elladan hummed. "If it is a natural cave, then I wonder what crystals have formed over the years without our knowing." He began heading down the tunnel.

Elrohir looked up to the cave opening. They could get out easily enough. And if their animal-friends still were not concerned about what is happening…then maybe they will stay and wait for their masters to return.

Besides…Elrond essentially kicked them out of Imladris for two weeks, so a detour will not kill them.

* * *

'This is not a normal tunnel.' Elrohir finally admitted to himself as he looked around.

Elladan and Elrohir must have been walking down here for an hour. The roots grew bigger and twined together as they went deeper down into the now established cave. If it were a tunnel made by elves or men it would be less jagged and rigged. Indeed, it had gotten more and more natural as they went down into the dark.

"You would not expect it to be this intricate at first glance." Elladan commented as he ran his fingers along the wall. Their elven eyesight let them see in the dark, even though it was a bit treacherous to go exploring in and undiscovered cave without any torch-light and other equipment. And only being in a party of two.

"I agree…" Elrohir replied quietly. "But we have wasted much of the day already with our play, our travelling, and exploring this cave…If we want to see the sun before it sets-"

"We do not need sleep." Elladan interrupted.

Elrohir frowned. "We do not, but what will we do if our mounts have deserted us? Have them return home rider less and cause everyone to go into panic?"

Elladan considered this, but instead of going with his brother's plan, he offered a compromise. "We go a little bit further…and then we will go back."

Elrohir stared a little longer before shaking his head. "Alright. But we better be quick. I am developing an unrest being down here for so long."

Now that he had mentioned it, Elladan felt uneasy too. Even though they were deep-elves, the Noldor, they could get tired of being underground with no sunlight after a while. They can tolerate it better than the wood-elves at least.

They only gone a few feet before they both felt…off. It did not last long and Elladan stared at a stalagmite.

"Alright…" Elrohir said at last, done with strange feelings and auras. "I think we are done."

"Yes, you are right." The older twin admitted. "We have spent enough time down here."

Without Elrohir noticing Elladan quietly took a loose crystal from the wall and pocketed it. Elrohir had collected a few himself earlier.

They walked for another half hour…five minutes of that time at one point was arguing which way to go to get back to the surface. After being childlike and going down separate paths, they eventually came back to each other and went down the right path. The walls slowly began to become unadorned once more, and the thick roots began to reappear as they got closer to the surface.

"Elladan." Elrohir's broke the silence.

"Yes?"

Elrohir looked white from his angle, as he stared at what was ahead of them. "This is your fault."

When Elladan saw it too, he also went still from shock, "…Yes…it is my fault."


	3. The Other Parties

Arwen lifted the tapestry up against the wall, admiring her work. It had taken a couple of years to finish it and much of her time, but it she finished it at last. Her mother and Tathardes would be proud. She even managed to soak the threads she used for it to clean easily. Her brothers would not do anything to harm her or her work, but accidents could happen, and she prepared for those events.

She sighed a little at the thought of her brothers. Protective, loving and adoring, but they did not understand the concept of stopping when they get into trouble.

She witnessed Glorfindel complaining to her father in the hallway earlier that day. He was holding a bouquet of a variety of yellow flowers, explaining that he found them in his hair when he woke up, in his sword sheathes, his boots…everywhere, as a play on his name and his former household that he lorded over in Gondolin. Arwen snickered about the play on his name, but not at the insult to his title, as Gondolin and his death was a sensitive topic for him.

Arwen politely asked to take the flowers, and Glorfindel willingly obliged to the young elf-maid.

Now it was evening.

Celebrían, Elrond, and Arwen were sitting and dining with each other. The master of the Vale held a list in his hand.

"What is the count?" Arwen's mother asked.

"Aside from Glorfindel's name play, the poison ivy, the chairs and tables: horses with poofy wool wigs, random acorns with button eyes falling from the sky or creepily looking at elves from their dressers and chests, the honey replaced with adhesives…so food is clinging to the roof of people's mouths or on their tongues, causing speech impairments…Shoes without their soles…"

The list went on.

"They were busy this year." Arwen remarked.

Elrond snorted. "Maybe it is good we have a shortage on honey…the lack of it will calm their minds down and they can just be."

Celebrían sighed. "Will we have to change their food courses again?"

"They eat healthily enough…that may not be the problem."

"Are they active enough?" Arwen asked. They were not at the training fields as often anymore.

"No, but Glorfindel's extreme exercises do not seem to be enough."

"Try every day. If they are sore, then it will be less strenuous on the next session."

"Alas, there is no point in preparing them for fights they will not see." Celebrían said lowly.

Not that anyone wanted to fight a battle to begin with, but if there is no purpose behind training meant to prepare one for such activity…

"I will consult with Glorfindel on the matter and see what changes we can make. Or have him make a special course just for them."

They resumed eating after that for a time. A few other things were spoken of before they were finished: Elrond leaving to consult with the Vanya, and Celebrían and Arwen to preparations for the festival.

"The prince of Arnor is coming to visit this year, Arwen." Celebrían said as they were looking over the documents and list.

Arwen was intrigued by this. "Tarcil? The last I saw him was when he was young; coming here to our library to research elven lore regarding Númenor."

"He has grown into a fine man from what I hear. He comes on official business…what they are, I think I have an idea as to what needs to be addressed."

Arwen nodded once. "Actual things, or because they are bored?"

Celebrían grinned. "High chances of it being both."

Arwen returned the smile readily. Her mind was already thinking on how she was going to make the best of the prince's time here…

* * *

Erestor itched.

Glorfindel still had some random flowers he was pulling out of his hair.

And they played chess.

Erestor won.

Glorfindel won.

Erestor won three times in a row…

Glorfindel flipped the board.

They set it back up again.

Glorfindel, while they played, mulled over a possible exercise routine for the twins after the discussion he and Elrond had. After what they did today…oh, he was going to make them regret every bit of it.

Of course, he had to stop Erestor's winning streak first. It amazed him that an elf who still itched like mad could still concentrate and strategize. Glorfindel would have to bring the idea up to Erestor about _extreme_ chess.

Glorfindel stared hard at the board as Erestor got a checkmate.

"How." The Vanya said despairingly.

"You try sleeping in a bed full of poison ivy," Erestor growled. "It prompts you to think long and hard in order to stop thinking about the irritation."

"Is Tathardes suffering as you do?"

"Yes, but not as severely. And everyone has learned the hard way that the antidote has been tampered with."

How pleasant and unfortunate.

"Not to worry, my friend…everything will be made right again when I am through with them."

"Good, because I really do not wish to use my staff on them. That emerald would be hard to replace."

"And the Great Oak would not appreciate you needing to rip a branch out of its boughs to replace the wood."

Erestor started laughing. "How uncouth it would be to have to be thrashed in order to thrash another."

Glorfindel let a sly smile curve his lips, and saved his king.

Erestor got angry as the tide was turned in their game.

* * *

 _Somewhere, in the wild…_

Tarcil spied through the looking glass, gifted to him by the sea-elves in Lindon. It was a dwarven concept long ago, and then the elves that lived by the sea adopted its concept and refined it. And those who lived on Númenor during its prime years (and when the sailors were seeking other lands after its fall) adopted it too.

It was a useful invention, even if it was just for being able to see things at a distance clearly.

When he lowered it he subconsciously frowned at how poor his sight became without it. No, his eyes were quite sharp still, but that did not mean he had the eyesight of elves. Speaking of sharpness…

The prince was a fine-looking man with a trimmed beard. Despite being sixty-six, the beginning of the last stage of life for most lesser-men, he being of númenorean allowed him to retain his youth and dexterity by a long scale.

Of course, those are really moot traits considering the circumstances, when some of the guards who were still in their youth were yammering away like idiots. And after a couple of weeks of travel listening to it, it can really start to get on a man's nerves.

Tarcil did not tell them to shut up…not yet, at least.

'How much longer?' The prince whined internally, behaving like a young boy inside while keeping the face he was expected to have for his station. He recalled Imladris from when he last visited… _years_ ago, but the memory was vivid all the same.

Beautiful, breathtaking…eternal, like her master and mistress that ruled it. The elves were cheerful, helpful, and kind. Their food was to die for, their artistry beyond anyone's dreams…

Oh, the forest is right before them. They were so close!

"My prince," said his friend Gimlân, who pointed to the forest before them.

"What is it?" Tarcil asked, squinting his eyes (completely forgetting about the looking glass).

"Do you see the black and brown there?"

Tarcil looked confused. "…Well, let us go see, shall we?"

With one command the party stepped up their pace to a canter and soon entered the forest.

The prince and his friend (an older advisor) separated from the guards to find the brown and black colors Gimlân had supposedly saw. They were close to giving up, but then they found it. And it bewildered the two men.

Two horses: one black and one brown, all tacked up with elven gear, grazed the grass of the area. They were not panicking or fretting about the fact that their riders were nowhere nearby.

"Are they being broken in?" Tarcil asked, beffudled.

"No. The Eldar train their horses in a much different way…Animal and tree whisperers they are. We ought to learn from them how to approach our own beasts. It would give both parties an easier time." Gimlân dismounted and approached the elven-steeds.

Tarcil dismounted as well, needing to stretch his legs and have a break from sitting in a saddle all day every day.

"Oh gods." The older man gasped.

"What is it?" Tarcil asked, approaching and looking concerned.

"It is the lords Elladan and Elrohir's mounts."

Tarcil's mouth opened and closed, and then he glanced around. What could have happened to the elf-lord's sons? Were they riding and thrown off? Or did the horses just happened to escape before they could get on again? It was a time of peace; thus not a lot of things existed that could bring harm to them, except maybe some men that developed homicidal tendencies…but those were rare.

"I am sure nothing bad has happened to them, Gimlân. You worry too much at times."

The older man harrumphed, "I worry just the right amount, and we are talking about a powerful elf who could _really_ cause some damage if any one of his children were hurt. Not to mention the lady Celebrían, as her mother is the elf-queen over the mountains…quite famous for her…"

Gimlân was cut off by a loud sound that echoed. It sounded again.

"Oh…"

"Awow wow wow AAAAH!" Came a loud screech.

Both men pressed their hands against their ears at the animal call, a frightening occurrence when given no warning. The elven horses pranced a little in place, their grazing interrupted, while the man-steeds got finicky and anxious as they whinnied.

They heard the grass be trampled in rapid succession by something much smaller. When Tarcil turned to see what it was, he saw nothing present.

"It must be that time of year." Gimlân grumbled. "But we better see if we can get these two to come with us." He motioned to the twins' animal companions.

Tarcil nodded and went to the black one: Elladan's horse, and tugged on the bridle.

About five minutes later…

"Come on you, I am sure you do not want to stay here." Tarcil _pulled_. The stupid creature still did not budge. In fact, the man could have sworn the horse looked smug!

"It is no use." Gimlân admitted with a big inhale. Apparently, along with being loyal like dogs and have longer lifespans, elven horses are _a lot_ more stubborn. He stared at the brown beast. "Alright, stay here then. We will let your masters know where you are so they can retrieve you."

The elven steeds snorted, again looking proud and smug. They were not at all concerned.

The two men stared a moment longer before returning to their own horses and mounted back up. When they found their group again, they were met with some questions.

"We are fine. We better get going if we want to get to Imladris by nightfall." Tarcil looked to the sky, and the sun was beginning to set.

Now that the prince could have a moment to think, he had _one_ question in mind: What had he gotten himself into?

"Awow wow wow WOOWWW!"

Here concludes the day of April 1st, year 346 of the Third Age.

* * *

 _A/N Thank you to those who have followed and thank you Silk Leaf, Celridel, and DaughteroftheValar1701 for your reviews. :)_

 _Keep in mind about the "literally" part in my summary..._


	4. The Arrival

They could not tell you even if they wanted to…

One, it was one of those things that was so embarrassing that warranted complete secrecy. Only…they _had_ to tell eventually, otherwise…well, they were stuck.

Two…they could not remember exactly _what_ had happened.

It did not help either about the fact that their horses had indeed wandered off, and they were still recovering from the heart attacks they had received…

In spite of all these new revelations, they got a new job to do, and stars above, they were going to do it.

Elrohir growled as he saw their runaways in sight while simultaneously dragging a still shocked Elladan along the forest floor.

* * *

Elrond and Celebrían stood at the base of the stairs before the main gate that led into the settlement itself. When a watchman reported that the prince's party had entered, they had readied themselves to greet them. Arwen, Glorfindel, Erestor and his spouse Tathardes all stood waiting.

"Hail, lords and ladies of Imladris!" called the mortal prince cheerfully.

"Welcome, ernil." Elrond called in turn. "It is an honor for you to visit us this season."

Tarcil grinned as he dismounted. "And I am glad it is spring; this will be the first opportunity for us to witness your celebrations." He approached the high-elves and bowed before them.

The lords and ladies did their gesturing for their greetings in return.

The prince straightened up. "And the ladies shine brighter than my last memory." He smiled at Arwen. "And you have matured fairly, lady Arwen."

"And you as well, my lord." She said with a smile of her own.

"Ah, Gimlân." Erestor said happily. "What a great pleasure for you to be here as well!"

"And it is well to see you too, my old friend." The older man replied. He briefly embraced the elf-advisor and kissed Tathardes' hand.

"Your company will be well appreciated, Gimlân." The green elf-maid said, her eyes drifting over to the golden Glorfindel. "Very much."

If anyone paid close attention to Glorfindel the elf's mouth twitched amidst his smile. Ill things were already being planned; he _knew_ it.

"Come." Elrond said suddenly, stepping aside. "You likely have made hard travel this last leg of your journey and need rest."

"Indeed, we did, master Elrond." Tarcil said as he followed the elf-lord, Celebrían, and Arwen. "Indeed we did…"

* * *

The men were allowed to refresh themselves, bathe, and eat what would be considered a feast to their own privacy. Those who had not seen Rivendell before marveled her beauty. Most had gone off to sleep, for it was nighttime when they arrived. Gimlân and Tarcil were among four that stayed awake, having a desire to discuss with Elrond the king's petitions and change of arrangements and get it done with. Well, not exactly making conclusions on anything. They would bring it up and let the elf-lord know what the king wanted changed or wished to establish, to give Elrond more time to think about it and make his own decisions.

Celebrían's earlier idea about some of the petitions being made was only done because the king was bored, and by extension Elrond and the other elf-lords were bored too and needed some useless things to sort out and discuss, seemed to be a truth.

"We do not have mines like the dwarves." Glorfindel said flatly. "Where does king Arantar think we get our gems?"

"This was just something to add to the pile, I think…" Tarcil said quietly, maybe embarrassed, and pulled the paper away. That was the fourth one that had no meaning whatsoever. "Do you want me to sort this out and have us discuss real business?"

"No." Erestor said, looking very much entertained. "I would like to see what the king has written down in moments of weariness over being king and answering the people's desires all day."

Insult and disrespect was not intended. Prince Tarcil knew his father and Elrond got along quite well and respected each other greatly. He knew about the subtle games that were played in the private matters concerning their realms, so no one knew on the outside how childish they were being sometimes. Now, seeing this happening for the first time was a little bit embarrassing on behalf of Arantar. The king was a bit old (still sharp of mind and body, mind you), so these antics could be excused.

Elrond smiled to himself. "Yes," he said in a small drawl. "I would not mind hearing the more interesting requests also."

The only mature people in that room were Glorfindel and Gimlân, which the latter held his head in his hands, and Glorfindel remained sulky about the flowers that were placed in all his belongings that day.

For those two, the next hour was agony.

"To…actual business." The old man finally said. "The king wishes for more volumes on certain books to be made."

"You cannot do it yourself?" Erestor asked.

"We can…only the books he wants is not in our libraries."

There was some silence, since that request was on the fence line between being a joke and actual seriousness.

"Do you have a list as to what he wants copied?" Elrond looked to the advisor.

Gimlân handed him the parchment.

"I will have our scribes begin working tomorrow."

They discussed a few other things. Out of that entire pile of "petitions", only two were of actual importance.

The king must have been _really_ bored.

Glorfindel and Erestor were dismissed.

"My father wanted me to go out." Tarcil said to the master of the vale. "…and he figured now would be a good time for me to see your fair realm once more. When is the Spring Festival expected to begin?"

"In three weeks' time, if all goes as expected and planned." Elrond replied.

"What can I do to help? I really hope I am not forbidden on doing anything while I am here…" the prince glared at Gimlan.

"No prohibition has been placed on you, my lord." The old man said with a stare of his own. "Stay courteous to our hosts and I am sure you can do anything you want to do."

Tarcil looked to Elrond.

The half-elf was smiling faintly.

"There is plenty for you to assist, my prince. And if there is naught, then when my sons return they can keep you occupied."

Elrond felt the air go a little cold when the prince and advisor looked uncomfortable at the mention…then he felt great irritation concerning the twins grow in his chest. What the void have they done now? A last trick to show their spite?

The two men both swallowed.

"Well…concerning the lords Elladan and Elrohir…" Gimlân began slowly. "…we found their horses out near the western edge of the forest."

"And with no sign of their riders." Tarcil finished.

Tarcil felt like running when he saw the look on Elrond's face, particularly his smile. It was strained, maybe slightly malicious.

There was a _long_ pause…

"I see." Elrond said in a pleasant voice. "I will also have Glorfindel investigate this, if they are not back by the morning." He stood up. "You must be tired…please, go and rest."

Gimlân and Tarcil had no need to be encouraged. They knew an angry elf when they saw one, and Elrond fit that card right then. Tarcil was not sure he wanted to see the twins and do stuff with them, especially if whatever has been happening has made Elrond's nerves go insane…

When they left the elf-lord alone in the study, Elrond mentally screamed for Celebrían and Glorfindel to come here right now.

* * *

 _Ernil - Prince_


	5. The Hunt

Gimlân liked Erestor.

He and the elf were similar in certain aspects of their lives: their personalities and their jobs. In that respect, they got on quite well, what with sharing the joys and pains of being an advisor and managing stuff, and being a teacher to younglings. The elf's lady also was a fair and decent woman to be around. She was helpful and kind, but firm that meant not to question when need be.

Sadly, Tathardes was out with Glorfindel that day in search of the missing horses, possibly the mischief duo themselves, so she could not be a part of their little circle at the time. Celebrían would have gone instead, but the mortal overheard her having to calm the master of the vale down after…that news.

Gimlân thanked the higher that he was not there to see that go down.

"What has been happening to cause such…distress?" The man asked.

Erestor frowned across the table. "Yesterday the twins were particularly active…it has grated on many people's nerves, and they have pushed Elrond to his wit's ends with their antics." He shook his head. "They have earned themselves a new title at last. And, if I may add, the first of April is the day of fools, I have decided."

Gimlân nodded slowly. "It must be pretty bad, to have earned a title _and_ to annoy their kinsmen. You are a patient race, right?"

Erestor continued frowning. "Under _normal_ circumstances. And you, my dear man, know me to be even more patient than perhaps half the populace here…yet even _they_ managed to tip me over the edge."

"In what way?"

"Poison ivy. And I will not tell you to try it yourself, knowing it affects men in more severe ways than being an itching powder."

Gimlân felt a smile grow on his face at the thought of Erestor being brought down by a mere plant. And he was a green-elf, for Eru's sake!

Erestor looked back to the paper. "And Glorfindel, the rysc-"

"Rysc?"

"The twins have managed to be called Foxes of Imladris for their sly and cunning. Anyway…Glorfindel, they insulted his house and name by placing yellow flowers all over his belongings, even his hair. The poor elf is impacted hard by this, more than he lets on. I believe he is very thankful that he will oversee Elladan and Elrohir's unique exercise course when they return."

"That explains his more composed demeanor last night…I am sure he would have hopped on being entertained by my king's strange requests with you and master Elrond."

Erestor nodded, smirking for a moment as he recalled what the strange requests were. "Indeed…though master Elrond sending him out to the forest may have been a good idea, or not so. We will have to wait and see."

Gimlân leaned back in his seat. "How does the Great Oak feel about all this?"

Erestor laughed. "Oh, if you could only understand trees…"

* * *

'What are you trying to prove to us, you foolish children, by doing this?' Tathardes mused in chastisement to their quarry.

She felt bitter towards Elladan and Elrohir for what they did to the bed the day before. Erestor that morning had not spoken kind words. She endured her pain…silently. She would not speak to anyone, she did not seek anyone, except when she was getting the tampered cream to hopefully ease their suffering. When that only worsened their situation, she also said a few unkind words to the sky. In the end, Erestor and Tathardes resorted to taking oatmeal baths to get rid of the irritation.

When she was asked to go with Glorfindel to hunt for the horses and by extension: the twins, she was a little unwilling. But Celebrían had to soothe Elrond in ways she only knew how. And, Tathardes, knowing nature quite well…

She had given into the request.

Glorfindel felt better that day. He still felt angered by the disregard to his old home, but the lessons he had learned and the instruction he was given in Mandos surfaced again, and, slowly, sucked his rage in and tried to let it go. He was not sure why Elrond wanted him to go out and find the twins. They were not in some sort of danger, and if they lost their horses, then they would have found them by now and went back to doing whatever they were doing to begin with.

Maybe it was to find out what was going on…and Elrond seemed very wound up about the matter when he told him to go looking. Glorfindel was certainly fooled by the deception: the elf-lord looked very composed and did not seem bothered too much by this.

But…here they were: off twin hunting.

Tathardes leaned to the side of her mount, bareback: as all elves of more basic backgrounds rode their animals. She was looking for hoofprints. The men had said the western border was where they saw the twin's steeds. In the span of twelve hours, they could have wandered off again or were found by their masters.

"Wait." Tathardes ordered, pulling to a halt.

"What is it?" The golden-head asked.

The elf-maid's brows were furrowed. "…The grass has been pushed down, in a dragging pattern." She pointed to a long line.

The trail seemed too wide to be a snake, unless it was one that had just eaten a large breakfast. It extended a long way before it stopped suddenly, replaced by four sets of paws.

"What could it have been that made this…strange track?" Glorfindel asked.

"I do not know." Tathardes said in consternation. "It is odd…and maybe I will revisit it later, for curiosity's sake. I think I see horse prints little ways away." She pointed elsewhere.

Now, hopefully things will become easier from that point onwards…

* * *

Arwen looked out the window, unsure of what to do with herself. She spoke with some of the men from Tarcil's party earlier. They approached her first, drawn to her surpassing beauty even among elven standards. They were respectful and courteous, and she answered their questions. She even spent some time with the prince himself, speaking of their lives over the decades since they last saw each other.

By the afternoon, she had grown a little tired of the constant flattery and sought some solitude. She mused over the situation her brothers will most certainly be in when they get home. Their father was close to furious over something that may not be what he thought it was. But with Elladan and Elrohir's ability to make something seem like something else, no one could tell with them.

She had been watching the gate and the hills for a while…and then she became bewildered by what she saw; tilting her head and narrowing her eyes.

Her brothers' steeds slowly walked down the hill at a leisurely pace.

Arwen did not wait to see if her brothers were with them or if Tathardes and Glorfindel were behind them. She picked up her skirts and jogged down the hall, down the stairs, and towards the gate. She met the brown and black animals before they were there. Upon seeing the elf-maid, they stopped before her.

"Where are your masters?" She inquired to them softly, stroking their muzzles. "Where are they?" Arwen leaned from side to side, looking, and found nothing. She frowned, wondering if this was indeed a prank. This was one of their harsher ones, if it was so.

A stable hand came up the path, looking about as confused as the princess was.

"I do not know." Arwen responded to a question. She left the steeds and went to inform her parents of this.

Arwen walked into the master bedroom without knocking. Celebrían and Elrond looked up at this intrusion, and waited for their daughter to speak.

"The horses…they came back." She paused, "…alone."

The lord and lady looked at each other with alarm. Elrond, no longer angry, stood up.

"Are they injured?"

Arwen shook her head. "No, in fact, they were content as if Elladan and Elrohir were with them. They are not scared or worried. If something bad has happened, they would have arrived last night in a panic and frenzy."

The parents were silent, mulling over this new information and trying to figure out this puzzle.

Celebrían looked at her daughter and her husband. She had done a quick look over their family web, searching for her son's fëar, and what she had found was…strange.

"Something has happened." She said calmly. "I am not sure what, though."

* * *

They found their friends again…only for them to trot at a pace much too fast for them to keep up with. Elladan came out of his shock half an hour ago, only to scream loudly in protest and from residue shock. Elrohir patiently waited for him to calm down, before they started following the animals.

They had, miraculously, managed to direct them to Imladris despite their current…situation. Oh, but that meant closer needing to tell their family…more like show what has happened. Talking would be a little hard…

But maybe, what they were told to do, maybe they would find what they were seeking in Imladris. That would be a safe excursion, unlike being out in the open where unknowing mortals could cause a lot of harm to them or unintentionally kill them.

They sat in a bush at the top of the slope that led down to the vale. Elrohir started to gekker quietly, and Elladan began half screaming in response.

* * *

 _A/N Thank you for your reviews Katia0203 and DaughteroftheValar1701. :) And it is nice to see you favoriting this story Thaishi._

 _F_ _ëar - souls/spirits._


	6. The Finding

"They came back?" Glorfindel questioned with a bewildered look on his face.

"Apparently." Elrond said quietly.

Glorfindel looked around, mainly toward the direction of the stables. "That makes no sense. Why would they come back without Elladan and Elrohir with them? Did they send them off and continued on their own path?"

Elrond shook his head. "I do not know. And where is the lady Tathardes?"

"She found an interesting set of tracks…She remains out there for curiosity's sake, in her words. It may be wise that she does, given she is second to Erestor concerning speaking to the trees."

The two elves looked dull for a moment. They had forgotten the advisor's spouse could talk to trees too…

"Has she thought of doing that?" Elrond said dumbly.

"…No."

Elrond sighed and gripped some of his hair. "Have Erestor tell her to do so, not that I know where she should look first and question the trees."

"Word can spread quickly in a forest…but I do not know trees. We shall see what we find, my lord."

* * *

'Oh! I was too absorbed following these prints I did not think to question them!' Tathardes exclaimed mentally in response to Erestor's prodding.

'Glorfindel did not think about it either, and given the fact that the twins' steeds have returned without their masters, we did not think we would have to before.' Erestor answered bluntly.

Tathardes looked around, eying one birch tree. 'Is there any place they want me to start?'

'Where you are will do. And if they cannot answer, or not give any clear answers, then have them learn from the other trees…or move elsewhere and do the same thing.'

'I am not sure how much information I will get, Erestor.' Tathardes thought cautiously. 'The trees in this forest are like children; they get excited very easily given they are not often aroused by us; and they are yet young.'

'We can try. If I must, I will try and get an answer out of the Great Oak and see if it can sense anything afoot.' Erestor sighed. 'This is a bit of an overreaction. And Gimlân misses you.'

Tathardes smiled to herself. 'I will be with you both soon, I am sure of that.'

Erestor's thought drifted away from her.

Tathardes looked a little forlorn about the pawprints before her. She would have to abandon the trail if the trees did not give any answer to help in their hunt. Just a little further, and then she will abandon it.

But before she did that, she went to the birch tree she had looked at, and placed her hand along its bark.

'Lady elf! Lady elf!' it cooed happily. 'Lady elf looks very happy today!'

'I am happy that the day has been fair and that our guests arrived last night.'

'But lady elf is looking! She got on a trail, see? I saw it! I saw it!'

'I am looking for two elf-men. They appear the same. Have you or your family seen them?'

The tree made a humming sort of sound. 'Lady elf is not looking for elf-men though. Lady elf was looking for small animals!'

Tathardes blinked. 'The animals are not my main priority, I admit. The elf-men are missing, and I want to find them. Have you seen them?'

Tathardes was not expecting the tree to get louder in excitement. 'Ammë's sister says they need you! Elf-ladies and elf-men back in Vale, they need them! They are going there! I saw them, I saw them!'

'Who is your Ammë?' The elf-maid asked the tree. She had an idea of who it was, as Erestor and her, and the memories from their own folk ages ago, had written down in a journal titled 'Tree Language'. They had decided 'Ammë' referred to Yavanna, the Valia of the earth and all that grows.

What did Vána, the queen's sister, have to do with anything with this whole thing?

'Ammë!' The tree said, sounding a little frustrated about the question. Ammë is ammë, everyone knows that!

Tathardes sighed patiently. 'Where did you last see the elf-men I am looking for?' She asked again.

'You look for animals!' The tree was upset. 'You look for them!' And the tree like a sulky toddler shut her out.

The elf-maid was…confused, to say the least. Mentions of Valier, of animals…but she did think about the tree's words. Maybe she should continue her search of those who made the pawprints. It could be important, or it was just tree spouting nonsense again. The tree did not sound urgent…so she could spend the time.

Tathardes went back to tracking.

* * *

'This has gotten much more interesting.' Tathardes mused to herself. She was led back to Imladris, or the hill before descending the vale. The pawprints led into the thick foliage of bush and tree to the right side of the path, adjacent to the cliff that slowly got bigger as a traveler goes down. Tathardes picked up her skirt to tread into the foliage. It may have been foolish to go into such a thickly covered place, as the tracks may have disappeared or were incredibly hard to see. The elf-maid had a hunch however…she had a feeling, so she kept going.

Tathardes began to regret wasting her time then. Whatever it was that she sought for and what the tree had prompted her to continue searching, it must be long gone. Tathardes sighed and moved a bush aside and stepped over a log.

A pitched squeak and yelp filled the air when she set her foot down on the ground; many other plants began being moved and shifted by whatever that was scurrying quickly through the small area. It made the elf-maid trip and she fell to her knees.

Tathardes, although startled, kept calm throughout this whole affair. She remained on the ground, and her head turned left and right, looking for, hopefully, her quarry. The rustling settled down, and the sounds were back, coming from a bush.

Tathardes chewed her cheek and a look of determination crossed her features. She moved forward and blindly thrusted her hand into the bush.

She got a grip on something, and she pulled back.

The yelping and squeaking came back full force. Tathardes felt a small breeze against her face and something furry as the thing in her hand squirmed viciously to get out of her grasp. She let go, and the thing darted behind her. The elf-maid turned around and looked surprised.

A fluffy, black fox with a white tipped tail stared at her intently with its ears flat against its head, front body against the ground, mouth open and making the gekkering sound; occasionally flinging a fox growl in there as well.

The thing that surprised Tathardes was the unique coloration, and the fact it did not run away. Well…if anyone grabbed a fox's leg and pulled it to them, that may be enough to make it angry and want to exact revenge.

There was a small woof from behind her. She turned her head and saw another fox with its head peeking out of the bush. It was also uniquely colored: the color of dark cinnamon with silver highlights here and there. And equally fluffy.

She had seen foxes before, and they typically are very scrawny from not eating enough. These two, they were healthy, and…cute, if she thought about it.

They still were not running away, and were not looking the least bit afraid of her. The cinnamon fox scampered out of the bush and sat behind the black one. The black fox lowered itself all the way down to the ground, ears still flat. It covered its eyes with its paws, as if embarrassed.

Tathardes' brows furrowed at this strange occurrence. She studied these animals carefully, taking in their appearance and features.

When she landed to their eyes…they were silver: a color _never_ naturally found in a fox.

Her mouth fell open, and she gaped before finding her tongue.

"Well…" Tathardes began, slowly. "…you have a lot of explaining to do."

'You finally figured it out.' Elrohir thought in response.

* * *

Celebrían stared at the arrangement list and then to what was set up. She passed the list to a servant. Things were turning out well. Despite the worry a mother has for her children when she does not know what is happening regarding them, she kept to her role and continued her work as efficiently as before.

Finished for the time being concerning matters regarding the Spring Festival, Celebrían wandered through the gardens, admiring their beauty and happy for new flower-buds popping up. She wondered what Tathardes had found when Glorfindel explained why she was not with him when he came back from the search. Green-elves have small tendencies of getting distracted if it concerns a mystery in nature, and strange things _of_ that nature. If she found something concerning her sons, then Celebrían would be happy.

Speaking of Tathardes, Celebrían noticed her walking down the hill, carrying…something. Celebrían walked towards the gate of that pathway to greet her. The lady of Imladris stopped halfway when she saw Tathardes carrying a black fox under her arm, and another oddly colored one following behind her.

"What…was that what caught your interest so?"

Tathardes's expression was interesting. She was smiling, but she was befuddled. She seemed happy, but it seemed a little strained, "I did what master Elrond requested me to do, my lady: I spoke to a tree. I am a bit glad I listened to its words."

"Why? What did it say?"

Tathardes look to her lady, then to the black fox who hung uselessly in her grasp, looking pouty as much as a fox can express: and they were very expressive animals. "Can you not feel their auras, Celebrían?"

Celebrían stared at the animals, unsure of what to make of this sight before her. Then she looked at the family-web. Like Tathardes, her mouth fell opened after she felt the presence of the twins…right there in front of her.

"I found them, Celebrían. I found your sons."

"S-set Elrodan down, please." Celebrían stuttered out. Elrodan was the smashed name for the twins when one did not know which was the other, especially when it was one twin alone. The black fox looked most pleased to get out of the elf-maid's grasp, and he made it known by making a low growl.

Celebrían's mouth opened and closed. She had _hoped_ to have her sons learn something, acknowledge that what they were doing was wrong during their punishment and hopefully stop when they came back…but this? This was…extreme. The lady of Imladris knelt down on the road, and the two foxes…her sons, she reminded herself, walked over to her.

"The tree gave me a few hints to this mystery…" Tathardes said.

"Have our family come together, privately…there you can tell us what you have learned."

"Should I tell them what has…transpired?"

Celebrían thought a bit too hard about it. "Just…say that Elladan and Elrohir have returned. Nothing more."

Tathardes nodded and with quick steps began walking to the house.

Celebrían looked at her children, not quite believing what she was seeing. Was this real, or just a very bad dream? This was beyond what Elrond or herself could have thought of in terms of chastisement.

The lady shook her head. Whatever has happened, they will put this puzzle together and find a way to return the twins back to the way they were. There was one mystery she could solve now, though.

She held her hand out, palm facing upward. "Elladan?"

The black fox reluctantly put his paw in her hand, still managing to look very, very displeased by this whole affair. Celebrían looked to the cinnamon hued fox, now knowing it was Elrohir. Already understanding their moods, Elladan would be easily irritated and may be quick to anger. Elrohir…while also not very satisfied with this either, he was still mellow and more willing to cooperate.

Celebrían smiled slightly while her index finger lightly stroked the black paw that was in her hand. Physically they have changed, but their personalities have not.

"We better go meet with the others…" Celebrían said to them both as she stood up.

The twins, though they were not identical presently, followed their mother as quietly as a fox can (excluding the click-clacking of nails upon hard smooth stone and wood). They tried hiding by pressing against Celebrían's skirts. That only served them nearly being stepped on or tripping their mother. They managed and made a compromise in the end, as they walked toward the sitting room.


	7. The Council

When Tathardes requested on Celebrían's behalf to meet in the sitting room, Elrond wondered why.

"Your sons have returned." Tathardes answered when he asked.

Oh. Elrond frowned to himself when he was alone. His feelings were mixed. He was relieved that they, to his knowledge, were unharmed, but still annoyed with them concerning their mischief. If this was all a joke…

'My dear, what is the meaning of this? How are our sons?' He asked Celebrían as he walked down the hallway.

'You will not believe me if I tell you.' The lady answered. 'You will see.'

'Are they well?'

'As circumstances allow, they are quite alright.'

Elrond frowned again. 'You speak cryptic words, melleth nín. Are you sure all is well?'

Celebrían answered naught.

The elf-lord entered the room…which he declared as a small council chamber when he saw Erestor, Glorfindel, Arwen, and Tathardes there as well. They all bowed their heads to their lord.

"Do we know what has transpired?" Elrond asked them, believing that Tathardes told more to them than she did him.

"Elladan and Elrohir are back…that is all." Arwen answered.

Elrond did not question anymore, and they all waited for the lady of the Vale to appear. They did not have to wait long before Celebrían appeared a few short moments later.

"Thank you for your audience." She said as she went to sit in a chair.

"For what cause do you seek our gathering, lady?" Elrond asked her.

"You have told them?" Celebrían looked at Tathardes.

The elf-maid nodded.

"Where are my brothers, Ammë?" Arwen asked with a frown.

Glorfindel and Erestor stood next to each other with no expression.

Celebrían pressed her lips into a thin line. A whining sound came from beneath her chair.

Everyone else in the room save for Tathardes blinked and their expressions changed. The words: "Ammë?" "My lady?" "Celebrían?" echoed simultaneously.

Celebrían sighed, moving her legs aside and moving her dress away from the chair. "Come out from there, stop hiding."

There was another whine. Arwen did not bother to wait anymore and she knelt next to her mother. She looked down and her eyes widened. "What…why are they here?"

"What are here?" Elrond questioned, confused. He stepped close to see.

Celebrían leant down and forcefully pulled something out from under her seat. What she dragged out made the elf-men feel disturbed. The thing she pulled out and now was flopped on top of her feet dramatically was a black fox, and another one peeked out from the hiding spot before slowly moving towards Arwen. Their ears were flat against their heads.

The elf-lords stared, unsure of what to make of this. Elrond figured it out quickly, and he lost some color as a result.

"Muindyr? Arwen whispered.

"My lord and lady," Glorfindel finally spoke. "Please tell me they are _not_ who I think they are."

"We can offer no reassurances I am afraid, dear Glorfindel." Celebrían said.

Erestor's eyes were big.

Elrond came around, after affirming for himself the twins were…right there.

"Do we know how this came about?" The lord of the Vale finally asked.

"I may have an idea." Tathardes spoke up.

"They did not manage to tap into some unknown ability inherited from Lúthien…or Elwing, did they?" Erestor questioned hesitantly.

The elves stared at the twins for affirmation.

The twins shook their heads while moving uneasily. They _really_ wanted to hide from the scrutiny.

Arwen let go of the cinnamon hued twin, and he scampered off to hide under a low table. The other one followed suit.

"What have you learned, Tathardes?" Elrond asked, his eyes trained onto where the twins were hiding.

"From persuasion, and possibly order, from a birch I communed with…it mentioned that Vána was involved in this."

Ears perked up at this.

"It even said that Elladan and Elrohir needed us…" The elf-maid looked to the table. "…Perhaps referring more than just needing our help in simple things."

"Why would a Valië intervene, or contend themselves to?" Erestor said in a somewhat dangerous voice. Erestor was not overly fond of the Powers in the West, especially after they, in his view, ruined the peace that existed in the Eternal Night long before the Noldor arrived. And they took away the grand sights in the sky by making the sun and moon. "If they want to intervene in our lives, at least make it a grander event, instead of making it appear like they are bored."

"Erestor." Tathardes chastised.

"We do not know the whole story yet…" Glorfindel added.

"Do you know anything else?" Celebrían said.

"I am afraid not. All I can assume is they did something to warrant the Powers' attention." Tathardes answered.

'Maybe this is the only way to get through to their heads.' Elrond could not help but think in bad humor. In that view, this was partially a blessing…Celebrían sensed that thought and ended up glaring at him in her mind's eye.

Silence filled the chamber. Arwen moved to the table, not that Elladan and Elrohir would come out from under it until everyone is gone.

Celebrían shook her head.

Elrond cast his eyes on Erestor.

Erestor returned the glance. The two elves simply looked. Elrond said something with that look…

Erestor's mouth opened and closed.

"I talk to trees, my lord, not to animals."

"It was worth making sure, it would have make things much easier." The master muttered.

"I think this would be much easier if this was just an accident instead of a possible omen." Glorfindel gestured to the table. "The solution would have been trying to have them learn how to change back willingly."

"Oh…but do keep in mind about all the possible things they could do _with_ that power." The steward reminded.

Glorfindel closed his eyes, not wanting to imagine it.

Elrond hummed as he pondered. He kept glancing at Erestor. "I want you and Glorfindel, along with my sons, to go to the place where this happened. The trees likely were a witness to this event, and if there are other, more dangerous factors involved…" The half-elf looked to the gold head.

They both bowed their heads in acknowledgment to the request.

"I think it cannot be today, Adar." Arwen said from the floor, as she was lying on her side facing the table.

Elrond blinked. "There is enough light left in the day."

Arwen sat up and was actually smiling. "They are sleeping."

Celebrían leaned forward from her seat to see and her shoulders slumped, her mouth quirking upward for a moment at the sight.

Sure enough, Elladan and Elrohir were both sleeping under the table with their eyes closed, curled up. Celebrían thought Elrohir's tongue was partly sticking out.

"They must be exhausted." The lady of the vale spoke softly. "Let them rest and regain themselves. Tomorrow will be better to look for information than now."

"My lady," Glorfindel began. "…We have our guests to consider." He frowned. "As much I am sure most will respect our law regarding hunting, there may be some that might find their pelts…" He said that awkwardly. "…A rare prize."

"That would be concerning those in the villages." Elrond stated. "I doubt the prince and his company would be that discourteous within the valley itself."

"I have it covered…" Celebrían murmured. "…Arwen, your skills in embroidery would be very much appreciated. I am sure your brothers would like it too."

Arwen frowned in confusion, but she nodded anyway.

"Tomorrow, then, is when you go out." Elrond confirmed. He dismissed Erestor and Glorfindel.

Tathardes stayed as Celebrían requested her to acquire some things: dye, leather straps, precious stones, and a couple of buckles. She also asked that Tathardes visit the carpenter and make a small table, one fit for children.

When the elf-maid had left, Elrond stared at Celebrían.

"I want to preserve some of their dignity." The lady answered the unasked question evenly. "I do not think they will eat much if their noses must always be to the ground to do so."

Elrond then knew what the crafting materials were for. He sighed and shook his head. The elf-lord got down to the ground to see the sleeping twins.

"I hope they will wake soon…" He whispered. "…maybe this time they will listen to us."

* * *

Glorfindel lurked while Erestor worked: working in the sense of reading that journal for tree language. Glorfindel felt a little disappointed that he could not execute his torture at the moment, but…maybe, this would be better.

"What are you doing, Glorfindel?" Erestor broke the silence sharply.

"What am I doing?" The Vanya repeated cheekily.

"Well, obviously you are in a better mood now, which is good, though you are thinking about something."

Glorfindel hummed. "I am…pondering, over the new state concerning our princes. I think many of our people would take advantage of it for revenge's sake."

Erestor frowned. "You are right…which is why no one but us will know about it. Though it will make people wonder what has happened to their lord's sons when their horses are here, and we doing nothing."

"How do you propose we keep this secret then?"

Erestor closed the journal. "We do not."

Glorfindel blinked, having expected some other reply, but Erestor does not give people what they want most the time. He walked to the archway to leave, but stopped midway. "Erestor?"

"Yes?"

"What do you think about having one of the twins play chess, and having Gimlân watch?"

Erestor's mouth fell open. "The poor man would have a heart attack; worse: have blood flow freely in his head. And how do you expect Elladan and Elrohir to be able to move the pieces with only paws?"

"I would figure it out."

"And, do you want Imladris' name to be ruined by telling two of the most important men in Arnor about this so they can tell about it? It would dishonor Elrond, I am sure."

Glorfindel frowned. Alright…yes, that is a bit too far…

* * *

 _A/N_ _I'm glad you liked over excited tree, Silk Leaf. I think you might like my other drabble I recently posted about the Great Oak._

 _Muindyr = brothers._


	8. The Dream

_A/N Arrogant/immature twins ahead..._

* * *

They slept, and dreamt. Elladan and Elrohir did not have the chance to sleep the night prior. The energy required to travel the same distance (and going on a wild horse chase) was much different when you are a smaller thing. They had not eaten much either, even though that would not have done much to make them exhausted. It was the mental strain that had them worn.

They dreamt and remembered…

* * *

 _"_ _Yes…it is my fault."_

 _What they had thought was the way out to the surface obviously had changed. Instead of the big hole in the ground, they were greeted with a shimmering pool that a waterfall from the wall flowed into. On either side of the pool were two sturdy saplings, both a different kind of tree. A ray of light also shined through from a small hole in the ceiling. It was an unusual sight, and the uneasy aura came back into the air._

 _"_ _Obviously you insisted on going this way…" Elrohir said in an annoyed tone, walking closer to the pool to get a look at how far underground they were, by looking to the hole in the ceiling. "…I had figured it was the other way."_

 _"If it is the other way, as you put it, then let us turn back and-oh, no."_

 _"_ _What?"_

 _The passage they came in through was sealed completely with perfectly smooth stone._

 _"_ _What…did we eat, before we left?" Elrohir whispered._

 _"_ _Nothing. Did I hit my head hard enough, and this is but a delusion of my mind?" Elladan asked in turn._

 _"_ _Maybe…or hit a stalactite by accident. The ceiling was rather low at some point…"_

 _"_ _Sleep-walking?"_

 _Elrohir looked about cautiously. "I know not, brother. There is no way we can share dreams with one another. Unless…"_

 _"_ _Unless it is a special occasion." A warm voice filled the chamber._

 _The twins looked around quickly and they saw no one else but themselves._

 _"_ _Who are you?" Elladan challenged, already slipping into a self-assured, haughty stance._

 _"_ _If this is a dream that we have unwittingly fallen into, we would much appreciate it if you release us from it." Elrohir followed with a frown._

 _There was silence save for the sapling's young leaves rustling together. "Look, children, and you will see."_

 _'_ _Look where?' the twins thought simultaneously. They looked from their current positions and saw nothing. Their eyes fell to the trees, which swayed back and forth like a small dance. One tree had gold leaves, and the other had green. The twins stepped to the pool and looked in. It was a deep pool, but they saw naught._

 _"_ _We see nothing." Elladan answered the bodiless voice._

 _A sigh issued forth from the voice. "Look, and see."_

 _The twins raised a brow at the repeated statement. They looked again, and nothing changed._

 _"_ _If we are meant to see something spectacular, then there is nothing. All that is there is our reflection." Elrohir eyed at the waterfall, thinking there may be something there._

 _"_ _And what, do you see from your reflections?"_

 _The brothers shared a look that communicated the thought well: 'What under the highest stars and lowest caverns is this thing trying to get at?'_

 _"_ _We will be willing to answer if what your aim is made known to us."_

 _"_ _Or the questions are clearer." Elrohir murmured._

 _The saplings rustled again. "What do you see in yourselves?"_

 _Ah, that is better. Elladan ended up smiling. "Great potential,"_

 _"_ _Lords of great renown," Elrohir followed._

 _"_ _Clever witted…"_

 _"_ _Sons of special lineage,"_

 _"_ _And attractive."_

 _They snickered._

 _The voice hummed a song as it spoke. "Indeed, you both are of special lineage and have great potential…but your flaunting, mischievous, and discourteous nature when beyond acquaintance may ruin those goals."_

 _The twins frowned. "Enjoy our youth while it lasts," said the elder. "We will cease when we are far past our maturing."_

 _"_ _Did you not say that once a century ago?" The voice questioned._

 _Elladan's shoulders slumped and became unnerved._

 _"_ _And have you yet given heed to your parent's insistent pleas to cease?"_

 _"_ _It is all fun and game." Elrohir argued. "No one is harmed for too long."_

 _"_ _Thievery." The voice accused. "Disrespect. Dishonor. You will find darker things down that line if you continue."_

 _"_ _Who are you?" Elladan shouted in anger. "What business have you in our affairs and in what we do, when we know not who or what is speaking to us? Reveal yourself, or leave us be!"_

 _The air became still for a long moment. The twins again could not help but become uneasy once more._

 _"_ _Four crystals in your possession," the voice spoke softly. "…Four crystals you must find: self-sacrifice, endurance and searching, curtesy, and honor."_

 _Elladan and Elrohir felt the subtle feeling of a veil being lifted from their minds. They shook their heads and looked behind them. The passage was open again. The twins both believed it was a very odd dream they had just experienced. Still, something was hanging over their shoulders. Guilt? Remorse?_

 _"_ _We have been here too long…" Elladan murmured. "…I feel ill."_

 _Elrohir nodded slowly, not speaking. They were close to the opening of the passage before Elrohir stared at his twin. "…This…is all your fault." And he slid against the wall down to the floor._

 _"_ _Some of it is yours too." Elladan said stupidly before he too slid down against the wall to the floor._

* * *

They have crystals to find…while in the animal form that fits their flaws most accurately. They woke from their nap around the time dinner was ready. Food…Elves can survive without food for a long time, but when not travelling, and having been through a confusing event, eating can do wonders to improve one's mood.

Elrohir remained curled up, only moving his tail (that felt _wrong_ , he was not an animal!) out of the way to look at Elladan. Elladan was stretched out on his side, still managing to maintain the look of upset about the whole thing. Elrohir figured his twin was either angry with the voice that must have done this, angry at himself, and quite possibly at the entire world.

When he heard that Vána may be a key player in this quest, Elrohir felt great shame for being so bold and arrogant towards one of the Powers, lesser or not, or even towards one of their servants. In that light, Elrohir readily accepted this "punishment". Elladan, though, was not willing to humble himself.

Elrohir blamed Elladan a lot lately, which could be rightfully placed, though Elrohir finally admitted to himself that he also chose to follow the same path. He could have turned away at any time, but he did not. Now they were paying for it.

'Time…the voice said endurance. This will not be permanent…if we do not allow it to be.'

Elladan made a low growl and got up, leaving the safety of concealment under the table. Not that they could escape the scrutiny, their dear sister kept watching them until they passed out.

Elrohir exhaled out his nose and got up stiffly, also crawling out from the table. Their ears perked at seeing food laid before them

…on a small table.

"Hello, my sons." Said a familiar male voice.

They wanted to run away and hide again. Elrohir shrunk into himself and Elladan made a run for the door. Elladan protested loudly as their mother scooped him into her arms, preventing him from leaving.

"Cease your struggling, dear. Do you not want to eat?" Celebrían asked sweetly.

'Not like this, not like this!' was what Elrohir understood from the growling and the whining.

'Do not make it more difficult for yourself…' The younger twin mused. Elladan gave up and once more dramatized his pose in Celebrían's arms.

"Elrohir?" Elrond called.

Elrohir shook his head.

The elf-lord gave a quiet exhale before he looked at each of his children. "You both know more than what we can find out. We are blessed that we have people that can understand the forest, as they must have witnessed your…transformation, if to get some sort of idea." Elrond paused, shooting a small glare. "I expect you both to listen to me. You go deaf every time we must talk important matters, and I will not tolerate it anymore, especially concerning this matter. Am I clear?"

Elrohir nodded quickly. Elladan whined.

"Good…" Elrond looked to the outdoors. "I am not sure how much we can help you, my sons. We must do the obvious…" He motioned to the table with the food. "…But finding a way to reverse this, depending on what we learn, that relies on you." Elrond closed his eyes. "I hope you will learn something from this. I almost _expect_ that of you. This does not happen merely by chance…"

'Unless you are a descendant of Lúthien…'

"…We suspect that you may be at risk for danger. If you have ever inquired or seen what the edain collect…they would not know any better, nor be able to tell, except that you are a rarity."

Elrohir did not like the thought of being killed and…skinned. Or would they return to elf form?

Celebrían set the older twin at her feet and kept him pinned with one hand. "Hopefully, these can make someone give pause, especially while we have some of the edain here with us."

Elrohir tilted his head. What edain? And what was Celebrían bringing out?

Their mother had two pieces of elaborate leather: one was bright silver, and the other a bright blue.

When Elrohir figured out what it was, and Elladan feeling the silver leather being strapped around his neck, they complained and made known their displeasure. Elrond had to pin Elrohir and carry him to Celebrían when the younger twin tried to get away himself.

"I know this is humiliating, my poor darlings." The mother said. "But please indulge us our worry for your safety. We do not want any accidents to happen."

'Is this part of the self-sacrifice?' Elrohir thought annoyed. Much to his disgust, it made sense…

"For your own privacy we have placed some pillows in the window sill in our room…it is better that we know you will be there at the end of the day and start."

They had not slept in their parents' room since they were big enough to have their own quarters…

"Tomorrow Erestor and Glorfindel will be heading to the site of your transformation. At least one of you will lead them to it."

The twins stared at their father, darkly.

"Do not give me that look." Elrond warned gently. "We need to know all that we can about this, in case this is something you need more assistance with. Was this done by someone else?"

The twins nodded.

"Was there a reason behind it?"

The twins nodded again after a long pause.

"Do you know of a way to resolve this?"

…Another slow affirmation.

"Then this should be simple enough…" Elrond held a hand out. "Have patience, and you will not be like this anymore."

Elladan and Elrohir put one paw on their father's palm.

Celebrían smiled, removing her hands from Elladan. "We shall not keep you anymore. Eat."

Elladan and Elrohir stared at their mother, looking ashamed.

"Do you want us to leave?"

They nodded.

Celebrían looked to her husband; Elrond smirked and stood up, holding out a hand to the lady. She took it and they left the room.

Elladan and Elrohir, now left to their own privacy, jumped from the couch and approached the small table laden with the goods. Oh…this was just a small thing they needed to get used to, among other things that require them to swallow their pride down. It was just beginning.


	9. The Talk

Tarcil and the men were enjoying themselves immensely. It made the old man happy to see the prince joyful especially.

Gimlân found the elf-realm to be a fair place. It did not fall short of the descriptions, and most of those descriptions were not enough _to_ describe it. It also helped about the fact that he had been here a number of times before this, in service to his king. Mostly it was on for true business, instead of this.

Of course, that had been the king's command too.

"Take the next few weeks off, my friend." The Arnorian king had said with a grin. "You have earned it."

And that was what he was doing.

Tathardes had come back from her searching. He got that much, so his small circle of familiar elves was complete once more. Some last minute business they had to see to, and preparing for the festival perhaps, and then…

Gimlân frowned and raised a brow as he saw something black and brown out of the corner of his eyes. He turned and saw nothing. He shook his head and went back to observing the field where the celebrations were to take place.

"Good day, Gimlân."

The old man jumped and looked around again. He saw Glorfindel standing there with a smile on his face.

"Oh my lord…" The advisor exhaled a breath. "I can handle surprises more than some men do at my age, but still, I rather not age myself quicker with unnecessary startle."

"I would not know that feeling, so I cannot comfort you."

"If what they say is true about you dying and being returned to life…"

Glorfindel smirked. "Would you doubt my word on anything, or Erestor's?"

"I think it is his word that makes me believe it, my lord. I mean no disrespect in that."

The Vanya sighed. "Blunt Erestor, but that may be why he has made it up to this point."

"Come to see to preparations, Glorfindel?"

The elf frowned. "…Not really. I actually have no reason to be here at the moment."

Gimlân smiled. "Well, I would appreciate your company for a time, if you can spare it."

"A little time will not ruin anything."

It did not help that they said nothing to each other for a few minutes.

"Have you found anything concerning the twins?" Gimlân asked, genuinely concerned.

Glorfindel looked disturbed and that only made the man feel more worried.

"They are back." The elf finally said.

Gimlân's brows rose. "That is good to hear, and unharmed?"

"Physically, yes."

The advisor frowned. "You are being cryptic."

Glorfindel closed his eyes. "For their sake I will stay silent. If fate has it you can…see them."

Gimlân knew he should not intrude on private matters, but he was…intrigued, by the whole drama. He secretly liked drama, "Well, it is good to hear that they are well. I do hope they will grace us with their presence at some point."

'That is what I am afraid of.' Glorfindel mused.

* * *

Elladan was upset.

No, he was _livid_.

As everyone knew, Elladan was the more tempered of the twins. He did not bother to conceal his anger if he became riled up. He could not express his rage easily anymore in his current circumstance, so that only turned his anger into a risk of heart failure, and his heart was smaller presently.

Elrohir did not help…could not help, unless they were audibly speaking, which Elladan would have been shrieking and drawn attention if he spoke, so they did not do that.

If his parents ever found out what he did to unleash that anger, they would have stuck him in a box and kept him there until he destroyed said box or calmed down. He scratched the living daylights out of the wood of the floor, destroyed a couple of pillows that he was sure no one would miss, snuck into the kitchen and stole a cookie, and then went outside and dug a hole.

Now he was laying on a low branch in a tree, ignoring that he could be seen by all who walked by, thanks to the black pelt he was forced to wear and the stark collar around his neck.

No one could get the joke. It was all a joke! They were all so tightly wound that they cannot take humor from harmless pranks. Alright, yes, again the honey issue was a shame, but everything else…

They even cleaned the coop, for stars' sake! That has to count for something!

Elladan heard feet walking. Human feet. Oh blast it, he had to get away…

"Abrazân, do you see that?"

"See what?"

"To the trees! I think-"

Elladan disappeared into the shrubs. How dare they gawk at him like he was some…some…

Like some rare creature of nature. Well, he would show them, when he comes up with something appropriate…

He heard the sound: a mix between a cat's meow and a dog's whine. Foxes were strange creatures with their vocals…but this meant his brother had found him. Elladan did not want to see him.

Elrohir pushed his way through the bush, the branches and sharp ends digging into his body. It was not that bothersome, the branches. But away from a convenient way to get to unreachable places…

'Brother, do not try to talk unless you will not explode in the process.' Elrohir tried.

Elladan growled, but beyond that, stayed quiet.

Elrohir paused before continuing, hoping desperately no one will catch his sounds, 'Have you given any thought to this, that we may actually be at fault?' Elladan growled again and Elrohir gave something that could be counted as a sigh, 'This is the final straw to our mischief. We listened not to requests to stop; we turn the deaf ear to father and mother…and for what: petty amusement? We really need to leave our childhood in the past instead of stretching it into eternity. Adar is right about this: we do not give ourselves a good reputation, and it will not help us in the future.'

'We are not old enough to be required to leave it behind.' Elladan had reigned it in enough to not be shrieking. He managed to make his growling quiet enough. 'We should try and make the best of this while it lasts, before we are exposed to darkness.'

Elrohir gave a sound very similar to a laugh. 'We are innocent of nothing, brother. We have been accused of many things, and none to flattering. We were called _rysc_ , for stars' sake!' It was the younger twin's turn to growl, and he waved a paw to make his point, 'Should that not wake you up? Look at yourself!'

Elladan found no words to deny it and he lowered himself to the ground, ears flat. 'What do we do?'

'You heard the voice…Maia, Valië, whoever it was, we have crystals to find.'

'Where do we start?'

Elrohir paused. 'This will be no instant fix, Elladan…We have things to learn before we can find it.'

Elladan let out a huff.

'I suggest you be the one to show our teachers where this happened, to humor them, since I have doubts about them being able to help us in something meant exclusively for us.'

Elladan growled again. 'And what will you be doing?'

Elrohir tilted his head. 'I will be looking for a crystal that might be here…in the ground.'

'Endurance and searching?'

Elrohir nodded.

Elladan puffed some air out his nose. 'Of course…' He looked to the wide open beyond the bush, '…I want to pay the prince a visit, it may make my mood lighter.'

'You will not do anything, will you?'

Elladan stood up again, swishing his tail in response.

Elrohir would have frowned if he could. He followed behind his brother, just to make sure he would not do anything stupid.

* * *

Tarcil sunk into Númenorean history on the porch, finally given time for him to be and read. He knew much already about Númenor in its prime, but it still fascinated him, especially from the elves' point of view. Even the matters concerning his people in the First Age, it was worth keeping note of.

The prince blinked and his brows furrowed when he heard scratching and some amount of yipping. He looked up and searched for the source, and found nothing. Of course, when he looked back to his book he saw two foxes sitting at his feet, staring at him intently.

Tarcil blinked his wide eyes. First, this was not natural behavior, and second, their pelts were unique. He did see the collars, so that must mean they were special.

"…Greetings, little masters." The prince said awkwardly.

The black fox tilted its head as a response.

Intelligent animals they must be. "I do not have anything for you, if that is what you are seeking."

They stayed.

Tarcil frowned slightly. After a moment of hesitation he pushed them away with his hand. "I am sure your masters are missing you. Go on."

The prince leaned back. He blinked when he saw the cinnamon fox sitting next to him on the couch.

Tarcil continued frowning. "Hello."

Secretly, the two elves that were the foxes were silently entertained.


	10. The Hunt for Revenge

The day passed quickly into night, and the night passed into day.

Sleeping in the window sill and on pillows was strange. Elrohir exhaled out his nose and the fur of his tail rustled slightly with the breeze. Elladan was gone already, perhaps to get a head's start with Glorfindel and Erestor. As for himself…what was he going to do? The Maia or Valië would not give him the one gem that could be the easiest one to find so quickly. So that left him thinking on how to approach this.

Obviously waiting was involved. It had been two days since this whole escapade began. Even though Elrohir could be counted to be more patient than Elladan, his tolerance levels already started to wane. There was no way under the stars he was going to _sit_ here and wait for the time to come for them to find that crystal.

Elrohir stood up and stretched, turning his eyes to the bed where Elrond and Celebrían would have been. They were gone, already having started their day and making preparations for the festival. Elrohir mentally sighed and jumped down to the wood floor with a clack of claws. There was no food nearby, and if he had slept in later than the others, they would have removed it so it would not spoil, so he probably would have to get some himself…And he was supposed to convince the cooks to give a wild animal food? They would throw him out before he did anything.

He would not steal. He was already stooped this low, he was not going to dig that hole any further if he could help it.

Elrohir trotted out the door and into the sitting room, which by extension lead into one of the many hallways to the house. He should find Arwen, perhaps she would help.

No, she would be _more_ than willing. She probably had secret delight in all this, like most that knew about this phenomenon. Elrohir would not really know…well, maybe he could, especially concerning his parents and sister.

Then he suddenly remembered there were other occupants in Imladris, in the hallway in fact. The transformed elf bolted and jumped out into the bushes to the outside.

Well, this was going to be a challenge…

* * *

"I have seen a lot of strange things, Glorfindel, but this is absolutely absurd."

"How do you mean? I am not vouching for Elladan to become tired so fast by the long distance. I have doubts that their level of endurance transfered into the shift."

"I am not talking about your intentions…I am talking about the _sight_ of you and Elladan. And my dear elfling, stop trying to bite him or you will be dropped and trampled by his horse."

Elladan bared his teeth at the advisor and continued squirming to be freed from the Vanya's hold.

Erestor stared at Glorfindel. "I think now would be a good time to let him have free reign. You both are not enjoying this, Elladan more so than you."

Glorfindel dropped him.

Elladan landed with a thud, jumping instantly to his feet and scurried away, likely in the direction where they were supposed to go.

Erestor shot a glare and sighed patiently, turning his mare towards the direction of the twin.

They had left early. Glorfindel woke up to a black fox sitting on him, Elladan anxious to leave. Erestor woke having Elladan pulling the sheets off the bed. Tathardes, displeased by the disturbance and the possible destruction, she promptly threw Elladan out into the hallway and closed the door. Erestor got to changing into travelling gear instantly.

The incident at the stables was interesting. The runaway horse that belonged to Elladan looked happy at the sight of his master, and a few elves were staring with open mouths at Glorfindel trying to pick up a fox and put it on Asfaloth the fifth's wither. Elladan refused to be handled in such a way, having been picked up far too much in the span of a day. Glorfindel argued it was for preserving energy and did not relent until he caught the twin.

Erestor had simply mounted and watched the drama play out. Elladan had the stubbornness of Turgon, the king of Gondolin (and being related to him, would make sense), whom Glorfindel knew back in the day. It was two forces against each other. The stablehands continued staring at the scene and the Vanya like he had finally gone mad.

Erestor questioned his own level of sanity for a moment too.

That had been two hours ago, with much groaning and fox-screaming and a few bites.

The whole thing was ludicrous. But Glorfindel seemed to be getting his revenge with annoying and infuriating Elladan.

Elladan circled a clearing before lying down in the grass, staring at the tall elves from his perspective.

Erestor and Glorfindel dismounted and looked around.

"A peaceful place to be." The Vanya mused. "…and a perfect place to strike."

"Where did it happen?" Erestor asked.

Elladan looked around briefly, ears perking at different sounds before running off and jumping into what seemed to be the entrance of a den. The elders walked, and their hearts stopped for a moment when a loud, panicked sounding shriek came from the ditch.

Glorfindel and Erestor peered in, and then went into the hole which expanded into a small cave, but Elladan was walking, _running_ back and forth across a stone wall, jumping at it, and barking and yipping away in frenzy. On the wall a single root broke through.

"Something must have changed." Glorfindel said as he watched Elladan scurry back and forth. "To elicit such a reaction."

Erestor hummed thoughtfully and approached the wall. Elladan ran into his leg and fell over.

"Alright…here is where it supposedly happened?" The green-elf inquired.

Elladan nodded.

"There is something beyond this wall that has you concerned."

Elladan nodded again.

Glorfindel started examining the other walls following this.

Erestor grabbed the root that was exposed. The root hairs bristled and moved in response to the touch, 'So many, so many…has message been spread?' The root's owner hummed.

'Message received.' Erestor answered. 'We would know what has happened here.'

'So severe, so severe.' The tree thought deeply. 'Why do you want to know?'

'Because history appears to be repeating itself.' Erestor frowned. 'You see not the fox who is a child of Lúthien here? For ancestry alone and the oddness of this occurrence it could not be by mere chance. We would like to understand why, so we can change them back.'

The root started wrapping itself around Erestor's wrist. 'Why seek to do what you cannot? This is beyond you and beyond elf-lords in Valley. Much awaits the sons, and must be set on right track to accomplish what they must in this world.'

That made no sense. 'And there was no other way for them to be set on the right path?'

'Many tried and failed, for their ears do not give heed! They have been intervened, and will find their way when the time is right.'

'How long must they stay like this?' Erestor pressed with some severity. This tree was being stubborn.

'When they are ready. Shoo!'

The tree shut the elf out. The root had not loosened its grip either.

"Well?" Glorfindel inquired.

"This helped us in no way." Erestor sighed and looked down at Elladan, who had been watching with hope. "I am afraid we have learned nothing more than what we already know."

Elladan made a whine and he covered his eyes. This was unfair…

"Glorfindel, help me get free…This root will not let me go."

* * *

Sneak, sneak, sneak.

This was ridiculous, that he must slink in his own home just to find someone. And that someone should have been easy to find!

And he still had not eaten, and it was making his mood dourer. Arwen, where in Imladris is she?

Elrohir should have sought his father, but he might be in a meeting with the men. Celebrían had to prepare for the festival, and he did not want to bother her with something he should be able to handle himself.

Elrohir had not managed to go by unnoticed as he wandered throughout the grounds and the main house itself. Some watched from afar or up close. The collar did not help either, as that encouraged some passing elf-maids to try to reach him and pet him. He had escaped that embarrassment easily. In the end, Elrohir gave up on trying to walk in secret, and hoped that he will not be thrown out of the building five times a day for the next indefinite period of time he and Elladan must be in this form.

Elrohir walked up the stairs from one of the courtyards. He stopped and let out an undignified squeak as he was interrupted. He looked up and growled seeing who it was.

Lindir.

"You must be the wanderer I have heard about." The minstrel said, sounding smug.

Oh stars, Lindir cannot know. He could not have figured it out already.

"We have open halls and terraces, but that does not mean you can walk in and out as you please. There is a larger world out there for you."

Elrohir continued growling and made himself look feral. That would not help his situation, but he had no time to deal with a vengeful minstrel. And this was _his_ house, he could come and go as he pleased! The younger twin darted between Lindir's legs and ran through the halls and side rooms, the elf was following him. Ah, one thing that had not changed was the love of being fast, and he was glad that he could feel the rush as he ran.

The twin ran between some walking elves that were out on their daily stroll, doing some form of art, or getting to some place of value. There were sounds of surprise and of question when Lindir continued chasing the rogue twin.

Goodness' sake, Lindir was more than mad at them for what they did to him!

The one downside of being able to run fast across smooth stone and wood was the lack of traction. Elrohir reached a sharp corner and tried stopping, but only ended up sliding into the wall and knocking down a pedestal. He tried resetting himself before Lindir could be within reach of grabbing his foot or tail (he was hoping for the former if it comes to worse). Elrohir yipped in relief when he saw two people within sight.

Arwen and Tarcil.

Elrohir _ran_ and barked at them.

Arwen turned sharply at the sound and gave a small gasp at her brother running at her like life depended on it. Elrohir slid into the ends of her dress and then hid beneath her coat.

"El-" Arwen caught herself before she spilled the secret to the prince. "What are you doing? What has happened?"

Tarcil turned when he heard the barking too and he stared dumbfounded at the elf-maid and the animal that had been annoying him the night prior. Both lady and prince looked up when they saw Lindir running around the corner, but he skidded to a halt when he saw the two important figures.

"M-my lord and lady." The minstrel stammered and bowed before them.

"What are you doing this afternoon, Lindir?" Arwen raised a brow.

"Running." Lindir said meekly.

"In the hallway? You know better, my friend, and you are old enough to know basic house rules!" Arwen exclaimed.

Lindir shook his head rapidly. "I must beg sincerest pardon, lady, but I would not run inside the house for no reason."

"A matter of urgency?" Tarcil asked sounding dignified as a prince should be.

"Of a sort." Lindir said strangely.

Arwen looked down where Elrohir was hiding behind her and under her coat.

The minstrel continued the tale. "You see, a dangerous animal has entered our home, possibly two. I am only seeking to keep us safe from these creatures. Alas, they have escaped my watch once more. But I will find them, you will see!"

Arwen shook her head slowly. "I wish you luck in your search, Lindir. We appreciate your service."

Lindir gave another swift bow before standing up straight. He shot a dark glare into the air before he turned back to the way he came and disappeared beyond.

Arwen gave a slow exhale. "I am so sorry for the disturbance, Tarcil."

"It is…an interesting surprise." The man said slowly. "I never thought there would be this many."

Arwen waited for Elrohir to come out. When her brother did, Elrohir's tongue was sticking out. He mocked Lindir with that gesture. The elf-maid felt a little exasperated.

"Is this yours?" Tarcil asked. "He and another were with me last night when I was reading."

'Oh, my foolish brothers!' Arwen swore in her thought. "Yes…those two are mine."

Elrohir stared upward at Arwen imploringly, wishing his thoughts to her. 'Please do not make this more humiliating than it has to be. And I am deeply sorry for my stupidity.'

Tarcil smiled politely. "They are very unique, my lady: fitting for one such as yourself."

'I am going to kill you.'

Arwen also returned the smile. "Yes…well, I do live in a unique family."

"Is the collar your working?"

"Yes." Arwen said hastily, as of Elrohir's arrival this whole conversation was falling apart. "I must depart for now, my lord…I forgot something concerning Rusc."

Elrohir deadpanned at the name Arwen had used. The emptiness of his belly was having a more severe effect to his mood than he first believed.

Tarcil blinked and nodded. "Of course."

Elrohir was not prepared to be picked up by Arwen and he yelped. Oh the shame…

Arwen stormed down the hall, her steps evenly spaced but with purpose. Tarcil watched for a few moments and stood in his place awkwardly, now unsure of what to do.

"What happened, brother?" Arwen sighed. "Obviously Lindir knows or suspects something, but why did you have to rile him up?"

'I was doing nothing except trying to find you! And food!' Elrohir exclaimed mentally, not wanting to get loud if he were to vocalize.

"You cannot try the hide and fly, Elrohir. You will need to accept being exposed if you want to accomplish anything; otherwise our people will assume you to be a wild animal, instead of one who will not cause destruction."

And being tucked under Arwen's arm so people can see was a good method. But Elrohir hated the thought about being thought of as her pet. And being carried by his _younger_ sister! Everyone else he could tolerate, as they were all older, but Arwen?

Fate liked being cruel in its punishments.

Arwen stopped walking, letting out another sigh. She then held Elrohir before her. The twin looked very upset and wanted _down_ right _now_.

"Only you and Elladan can achieve so much chaos, intentionally and not." Her mouth curved upward. "Do you wonder why there was nothing for you in Atar and Ammë's room?"

Elrohir nodded faintly.

"It was not out of cruelty, but to see if you could get closer to finding the resolution to all this. Do you think it helped?"

Elrohir's ears perked at that. Yes…perhaps this busy morning had helped, but still, it was an awful lot of trouble to get sustenance. He wondered if a true fox had as much trouble, except it happened on a daily basis: the struggle.

Elrohir hoped that will not be the case here.

The twin started growling, having enough of being held. Now he understood why Elladan hated it so much, so Elrohir chose at that moment to avoid it as much as possible.

Arwen granted his request. "I will get you something, brother, and then you can continue this quest of yours."

'I hope Elladan learned something out there that will help us.' Elrohir quietly followed Arwen to the kitchens.

* * *

 _A/N The chase scene with silly music made it better...heh._

 _Which of the twins has it worse? It seems they cannot win in this scenario. They cause chaos wherever they go._

 _Should I add humor to the genre type too?_


	11. The Beginning of Boredom

The trip back remained mostly uneventful. Elladan deliberately made himself scarce to avoid Glorfindel's clutches, so he had gained some ground ahead of Erestor and the Vanya, if for a few minutes. Them being on horseback gave them the advantage of catching up very easily. Thankfully, they had let him be as they walked back.

Elladan followed them to the stables and sat at the entrance, receiving stares and maybe some cooing from the ladies. He flattened his ears and bared his teeth, knowing well this was his fault, but he did not care. Erestor walked out without even giving a glance to the fox. Elladan stared hopefully at Glorfindel as the Vanya stopped.

The spectacle earlier that day helped his cause, as Glorfindel had made himself a fool before a few people. The Vanya stepped around the building, away from sight, and Elladan followed.

Glorfindel folded his arms and stared down at the twin.

"I know this is not what you want to hear, but we can do nothing to help you." He began. "We have done all that we can think of."

Elladan continued staring and he showed his teeth, as that was the closest he could achieve to frowning.

Glorfindel smirked. "You know, this does not have to be as torturous as you are making it out to be. Yes, this will have its challenges, but I am sure there are ways to make this a bit more tolerable."

'Like what?' Elladan wanted to ask, irritated.

"If you can make it tolerable, perhaps that will help you change back sooner."

Elladan growled, moving to bite the ends of Glorfindel's coat and pulled when he did.

Glorfindel sighed. "Or do that…this was getting old anyway. I never liked it"

"My lord, I was not aware that you were an animal whisperer of a sort."

Elladan and Glorfindel simultaneously turned to the voices. An elf-man and two maidens were standing there, grinning. The fabric fell limply from Elladan's mouth. If he could blush, he would be red all over.

Glorfindel was no better. "Are we not all one?" He questioned smoothly, trying to regain the dignity lost that day.

"Perhaps, but to the extent of having one collared! We did not know you had an interest in smaller animals."

Elladan looked back to the Vanya. Glorfindel had that strained smile and his eyes screamed murder.

As much as the two respected each other and shared a close friendship, at that moment in time and after the destruction to Glorfindel's property days before (and Elladan's pride and dignity being beyond bruised), they shared a mutual hate for one another.

* * *

Elrohir was in the sitting room on the table, curled up and was waking from a nap. Arwen gave him a buffet (which a fair amount still remained on the platter) before she left her brother alone, likely to see to things concerning the festival. Elrohir rolled onto his back and yawned before rolling again to stand up. At least his crisis was amended, for now, and likely will remain so until late at night.

He could think clearly again, that was for sure.

Except…what to think about? It had been established that it will take time to find the crystals. The how had been established already. Blast it that they _had_ to wait. That was what was killing him; Elladan might keel over from that alone. Elrohir let out a puff of air and he waited on the table.

One…two…three…

He was bored. But he was going to wait, even if he did not know what he was waiting _for_.

…Four…five…six…

How long did he have to wait? Well, if he did not know why he was waiting in the first place then it technically is not waiting.

…Seven…eight…nine…

Someone walked through the archway. Elrohir's ears perked at the sight of his mother.

The silver-maid smiled and she sat down in a seat, holding her hand out. "Hello, my dear."

Elrohir put his paw in her hand.

Celebrían stroked it with her thumb. "I was told you had quite the morning. At least you found Arwen." She raised a brow at him. "Did you learn anything from your small adventure?"

'That the elf-maid that has caught my attention now returns it because I am now a fluffy ball of mischief.' Elrohir thought. 'That Lindir hates my brother and I and is planning Valar knows what…That is the only thing that concerns me because it involves saving my hide.'

Celebrían smiled gently. "It was worth seeing what would happen, maybe…move things along at a faster pace." She sighed, "No matter, you will resolve this mess as fast as you are able."

Elrohir's ears flattened against his head. If it could be _faster_ , he would be eternally grateful.

And it has been _two_ days!

Celebrían lowered the foot and looked at him calmly. "Do you want to see the festival grounds? That may be more interesting than sitting here all day."

Elrohir sighed. He might as well, and if he was honest with himself, as much as the attention he received was embarrassing, it gave him that excitement of doing something, when he was trying to escape.

Elrohir's back stiffened as he felt Celebrían's hand on his _head_. Oh stars, she was _petting_ him.

Celebrían did not show any regret and she kept on grinning. "Oh Elrohir, this is no different than other times I do this. Nothing has changed. Besides, it is too tempting to not do this."

Elrohir whined at the implied statement that remained unsaid: "Because I am your mother."

"I will ask again: do you want to come with me?"

Elrohir nodded.

Celebrían stood up and began to walk to the archway. Elrohir leapt down from the table and followed behind her.

The scene appeared normal, if the sudden appearance of a fox following the members of Elrond's household was none existent. A dog would have been better, more normal. For the men at least…Elves are no strangers for housing strange things.

They passed some of the guards of Tarcil's party as they neared the festive plain. They gave their respects to Celebrían, but gawked unknowingly at a son of Elrond. Elrohir felt a little uneasy being in the presence of these warriors. He knew their tendency of desiring trophies…Elrohir was thankful for the collar and his strange colors then, and being in Imladris where there are laws. Even if it should come to a serious situation, he was sure the others would deal with them accordingly.

Even if it meant revealing their current predicament to them.

Elrohir stopped following his mother and sat at the top of the stone stairs, looking at the field. The flowers were blooming and handmade garlands, moss, and vines hung from the trees. It was a lovely sight; a dream-like atmosphere filled the place. Elrohir slowly became bored again. He started pacing back and forth, to just do something, and then he saw it.

A perfectly round stone ball.

Elrohir blinked and approached it. It was not moving, it was just…there: smooth and round.

Elrohir lifted his foot and pushed it.

It rolled.

Elrohir approached it again and pushed it.

After a few moments, if anyone looked to the stairs, they would have seen a fox playing with the stone ball.

'Great stars, what have I turned into, to resort to _this_ for amusement?'

* * *

Elrond looked at the scene before him.

He should have been shocked, but for some reason he was not. He likely expected this to happen. Glorfindel stood before him, the edges of his clothes torn and shredded. Elladan sat on a chair to be level with the desk, now turned judgement desk, while Erestor stood to the side, looking entertained. The green-elf had a very strange sense of humor. That or it was because the scene was just another image that was stupid and in a reasonable home would never happen.

Having to judge a supposedly esteemed elf-lord and his son-turned fox (on a chair) did not happen on a daily basis.

"…What happened?" Elrond started.

"I was trying to find ways to help Elladan cope with this situation." Glorfindel answered. "…He adamantly refused every suggestion."

Elladan looked haughty with his fine pose and long snout and flattened ears.

Elrond closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "Did you even listen to the suggestions, Elladan?"

Elladan shook his head.

Elrond frowned. "Erestor, have you seen anything to cause this…destructive behavior?"

"Aside from the obvious, Glorfindel may have been a bit pushy on your son this day. But the tension coming from Glorfindel may be a result of lasting grudge against the slight Elladan preformed against him concerning the insult to his name."

Elrond bit his cheek. He was too old for this, by mortal standards, to deal with petty grievances. "Glorfindel, I must beg pardon on behalf of my sons," Elrond glared at Elladan and the twin recoiled in on himself. "I ask that you let go of your grievances, so that you _can_ help, in the small ways. And Elladan, I will not hesitate to tether you to a tree if I see further destruction come from you. This does not help you or your brother, so if you are desperate for this trial to end, then I suggest you listen when advice is given to you." He motioned with his hand to them.

Glorfindel gave a quiet sigh and turned to Elladan, holding a hand out.

Elladan gave a low growl, but he acquiesced and held his paw out.

The Vanya's larger hand folded over the paw, and they shook hands…paws.

"Very good." Elrond breathed. "I have been informed of Elrohir's recent mishap. It may do you well to keep watch for Lindir, Elladan. You may leave."

Elladan jumped from the chair and slinked away.

Elrond shook his head. "I wonder if we are supposed to learn something from this as well."

"Patience is likely." Erestor commented.

"I am not trying to cause trouble…" Glorfindel whispered.

"I know, and I am grateful for that."

"I am used to this." Glorfindel grinned with charm. "It is why I am still alive."

* * *

 _At the same time…_

"Gimlân…have you noticed that our hosts are behaving strangely?"

The old man frowned at Tarcil's words. "A little bit. Why do you ask?"

"Did Arwen ever have pets before now?"

"You should not be asking that sort of question! That is none of your business!"

Tarcil shrunk a little. "I am sorry, but I cannot help but feel something is not right."

Gimlân continued frowning. "And what do you believe is wrong?"

"That is what I do not know, but…it is off. Have you seen foxes around lately?"

Gimlân blinked.

"They are odd, those two…I have a feeling it is them that is making me feel uneasy, the cause of unrest in the lords and ladies."

"If it is something they need help with, then they will tell us. Keep your nose down and do not worry about it. Nothing bad will happen to us."

* * *

Elrohir dug in the dirt, still near the stairs. He had to bury that ball, he was not sure if they would take it away. He felt ashamed that this small thing had amused him so much the way it did, but he could not help it; he could do _nothing_ but wait. He was sure there was no way he could have been able to grab a book and read it without ripping or sliming the pages.

Elrohir nudged the stone ball with his head into the little hole he had made and covered it with dirt. He heard a woof and looked up. Elladan and the others had returned, and hope came to his heart.

'Did you learn anything?' Elrohir asked.

The look in Elladan's eye said he was annoyed. He said naught and he plopped himself at the stairs.

Elrohir tilted his head, and given the answer he was given he took it as a no.

'Father gave me a talk.' Elladan squeaked softly. '…I am going to get in big trouble eventually.'

'Are you going to _try_ not to?'

Elladan huffed. 'Even if I try, I might fail.'

'And fail we will…Accept that for what it is.'

They were silent for a time, as they watched their people down below.

'I am bored.' Elladan yipped suddenly.

'…I am too.' Elrohir added.

* * *

 _A/N ...Foxes are so beautiful when they have winter coats, and are healthy. And Artic Foxes? Their faces are so sweet. So, yes...the twins are bored. :) That can mean good or bad. I hope you are enjoying this still._

 _(I tried to edit some pictures to replace the current picture...as the colors the twins' have are real color morphs in a red fox. Too much work, and my skills are poor.)_


	12. The Revealing

_A/N Kind of been burnt out, some trouble writing lately. But I did it, for this story at least._

 _Might be a little bit on the serious side...but there could be an "awwwww" moment to compensate for it. Just give them anime eyes. :P_

 _And, might be a little late and pointless...but if you want help in looking for some good/semi good samples of fox sounds, movements, and color mutations, PM me and I can send you some links from my extensive research. :)_

 _Enjoy._

* * *

 _Four days later…_

Erestor and Glorfindel looked up from their shared table where they worked to Gimlân. The old advisor looked perplexed and if not a bit disturbed.

"What can we help you with?" Erestor asked smoothly.

"That is what I am uncertain about: I need…well, my kin need help, but I do not know _why_ we need help."

Glorfindel and Erestor shared brief looks before looking back at the man.

"Well, start with what you believe is an issue." The Vanya stated.

Gimlân waved his hands in the air. "I do not know! All I know is that my kin are upset. They are complaining about torn up rooms, some expressing concern for some of your maintenance to the wood and stone around the house. Some complain of missing belongings…or the damage done to them."

Glorfindel's face twitched. Erestor…remained Erestor, which meant calm and collected.

"Has the prince been affected?"

Gimlân looked devastated. "I am afraid so. With all due respect, my lords, but is this not supposed to be a haven? A place to get away from our troubles and worries? Tarcil has been driven to the wall with strange ideas and theories about what is happening to us; I fear for his health. I do not want to explain to our king that his son lost his mind for going to an _elf_ realm."

Erestor strained hard to not let any emotion show on his face. Glorfindel continued twitching.

The green-elf finally spoke. "Show me some of the damage, my friend…We will see what can be done about your…problem."

They would find the damage, but not the source, as someone else was doing that already.

* * *

"You little-" Arwen huffed in exasperation as her grip slipped from her target. "Stop running from me!"

She ignored the shuffling of the empty crate she had effectively caged Elrohir in, after dumping a pile of books on top so he could not get out. Elladan was a completely different story, and that story was being told.

Her brothers had gotten _too_ comfortable with their new forms, and by extension: were adept to adapting to it and taking every advantage of it. They tried very hard to keep themselves in control, she gave them that excuse, but they had given in to old habits in the end…and being foxes only exacerbated their desire, and any form of excuse would not be accepted now after she saw the amount of damage they caused.

They simply had no idea how to keep still for a long period of time.

She thanked the Higher that Elrohir still remained the more reasonable and wiser of the two, but he had done his fair amount of destruction. Still, the mellowness and less resistance made it easy to catch him in that crate. Elladan, was Elladan.

"Ammë is coming soon." Arwen warned. "If you do not help me now, I can guarantee she will do it for you." She got up onto her knees, as Elladan was out of reach under the dresser and behind other pieces of furniture and décor.

The crate shifted again and a whine came from beneath. Arwen sighed and made her way over to the trap. "Are you going to run if I lift this?"

Silence.

The elf-maid guessed that was a no, but she had no idea what it meant. She took the risk. Arwen removed the books from the crate, and slowly lifted it up. Elrohir was curled up in a ball, covering his face with his tail, very much ashamed for his behavior. Arwen felt her heart melt a little at the sight, and her anger towards the younger twin faded away.

"You poor thing." She said quietly, her sympathy _only_ going out to Elrohir. Elladan was not so innocent. If she read the signs right, it seemed Elladan finally began to embrace this circumstance: in the wrong way.

Arwen heard her mother coming and looked when she saw the silver-maid stand at the archway, staring at the disaster made of this unoccupied guest room.

Celebrían closed her eyes and sighed wearily. "My foolish boys, what have you done?"

Elrohir tried to curl up tighter. Elladan somehow managed to get on the beaming near a window in the meantime; his ears were flat, and only _now_ that a parental figure was present, he showed fear.

"We are going to have another discussion, you two."

* * *

Elrond regarded Tarcil calmly. They were going over some last-minute details concerning some serious arrangements. They were almost done, but Tarcil started to get antsy as they got closer to being finished.

"What is oppressing your mind, my prince?" The elf-lord asked softly.

Tarcil met eye contact, and he took in a quiet breath. "I am worried, lord."

"About what?"

"It…is…a little hard to explain. Ah, I mean, to speak about."

Elrond raised a brow at this. "If you are seeking help in something, I cannot help you if you do not let me know what is wrong." 'It is a part of my station.' He mused in mild humor.

Tarcil moved restlessly in his seat. "Well, I know I should ask your daughter this, but I have not been able to speak to her some time now…And..."

"What about Arwen?"

"When did she get pets?" Tarcil asked quickly.

Elrond deadpanned and blinked, slowly. Of course, he should have expected nothing less. He had heard of some of the problems concerning his sons, but he hoped greatly that if he ignored it they would stop. Apparently, it was in vain.

"My daughter has had _them_ for a while." Elrond started. "Believe me when I say this, they have grated on our patience as well."

"Lindir was chasing one of them a few days ago."

"I am aware of this…Lindir has been the most unfortunate concerning the rysc." Elrond prodded down the feeling of feeling bad for calling his sons foxes in the metaphorical sense, but since they were ones physically, and they were trying to hold a ruse… "Have they done something suspect?"

Tarcil was silent for a moment. "…To me personally, nothing too detrimental. But some of the younger men may have been subject to worse things."

Elrond opened his mouth to answer, but he had no chance to do so when everything came in fast succession.

First, he heard Celebrían speaking. "Elrond, we need to have a discussion with our sons again concerning their most recent behavior." She and Arwen both came into the study, each with one fox in their arms in positions so they cannot escape.

Next, he heard his advisors and Gimlân coming down the hall, also speaking.

"I am sure it is not _that_ severe-"

"This is not severe? Forgive me, my lords, but I _must_ know if master Elrond is aware of this, and we can try and set up a plan to find the culprits!"

Glorfindel, Erestor, and Gimlan entered through the other archway. Tarcil had been staring open mouthed at the ladies of Imladris, and especially at the foxes. The twins' ears were on high alert and their eyes looked like they would fall out from bugging out. The advisors from two races stared at the twins and then to Tarcil, to the ladies, and back at Elrond. Celebrían and Arwen had gone stock still when they had walked in on the prince and master of the vale. They were aware of the meeting, but had thought that they were finished by now.

"Your sons?" Tarcil asked, disturbed. "They have come back?"

Elladan and Elrohir tried to worm their way out of their captor's arms, sounds of frustration and anxiety escaping from their mouths.

Gimlân blinked rapidly, also staring at the strange creatures. "Have they done this?"

"We did not know-"

"Silence!" Elrond kept his scary silence throughout the whole scene until now.

All fell still; the twins hung limply against their captors. Tarcil looked like he was going to faint from all the pressure he had built on himself from worry and theories. Gimlân kept staring at the animals. Erestor and Glorfindel looked a little out of place. Celebrían and Arwen waited patiently.

Elrond breathed. "My dears, can you take them away? I shall see to them later: they need a time out."

Celebrían gave a nod. The twins simultaneously screamed, which forced everyone else to cover their ears. Elladan pressed his front paws against Celebrian's chest, making himself look like an unwilling toddler. Elrohir was not nearly as bad, especially when Arwen had him perfectly pinned and immobile, so all he could do was make noises, which slowly drifted away as the elf-maidens walked down the hall.

Elrond glanced to his advisors. "Erestor, Glorfindel, see to amending the damage you have just seen, and making recompense to our guests."

The two bowed their heads and took their leave, leaving Elrond alone with the two representatives of Arnor. Gimlân's mouth was open, while Tarcil looked confused and stressed out.

"My prince…I think you have overworked today." The old man tried with a gentle approach.

"Not now." Tarcil stopped the advisor with a commanding voice. He took a deep breath and slowly turned his eyes back to Elrond. "…Can you care to tell us _what_ has been happening? Please, my lord, for _my_ sake."

Elrond maintained his calm expression. "I suppose there is no point trying to hide anything now, is there? As you have asked the question...Please, ask all that you need to; perhaps you can help us after all."

* * *

They were in the time out box, or more accurately: a storage chest.

Two days ago, when they had started to get even more reckless in their behavior, they were shown this chest as a warning. It had effectively caused them to reign it in for a short time, but not long enough, as their old habits came on top of the threat. Even when they were elves, they did not give heed to warnings when they were misbehaving, so this was not much of a surprise.

Except, aside from being turned into foxes (the most severe punishment so far), this time chastisement had been executed by their parents for truth.

Celebrían had place a book between the lid to let some light and air in, and more on top of the lid so Elladan and Elrohir could not push it open and escape.

Elladan was scratching the walls of their prison, the sounds of his upset coming out as petulant whines. Elrohir was curled up in a corner, repeating "I'm sorry" over and over in his head.

They had tried, they had tried so hard, and they indeed failed. Elrohir was prepared for it to happen, but no matter how much preparation he made, he would have never been ready to simply accept it without guilt or shame. Elladan also felt ashamed, but once more, he expressed it in a starkly different way.

They were rude and uncouth, they were destructive (to account to their elven mischief), and worse: they _had_ to do it to the men. Elrohir wondered, out of _all_ the people they could have picked, it _had_ to be their guests?

'Please, let us free! We will not do it again, I promise!' Elladan begged, not to be understood save by Elrohir and the Higher, 'We could not help it…'

'It is no use.' Elrohir moaned. 'Do not fight it.'

'You said not to fight it!' Elladan screamed. 'And LOOK what happened!'

Elrohir growled and got to his feet. 'Habits do not go away instantly, brother.'

'Oh, now you are trying to defend our actions?'

'Nay! You misunderstand!' Elrohir felt his own ire rise.

'We will never get free of this.' Elladan whimpered in despair. 'We are doomed to live our lives this way forever.'

Elrohir shrunk down into himself, his hope temporarily wounded at the thought.

They both looked up when the chest creaked open and the light came swarming in.

Celebrían gazed into the enclosed space, her expression full of compassion and pity at her sons. They looked pathetic, and being foxes only made the look appear _cute_ , which was completely out of place given the situation. But Celebrían loved them immensely still, for all their errors and wrongs.

"You can come out now."

They did not want to have another "discussion". They wanted to find a way to express their apology, but it was inevitable. They always escaped it before, so they were going to face it. Elladan climbed out first and circled his mother's feet before laying down to her right. Elrohir was slower, his guilt weighing him down. He kept his head bowed. He briefly saw Elrond's feet.

Elrohir was going to take a step forward; he did not finish the step because he looked up. He felt his legs start to tremble as he saw the other people present.

The prince of Arnor was sitting in a chair with his arms folded, his expression solemn. Gimlân was standing next to him, also looking serious, but not nearly as so. There was residue of shock leftover.

Oh, stars, do they know, or were they going to be told now that they were out in the open?

Tarcil breathed in slowly. "Well, I daresay this is a strange way to meet."

Elrohir lowered his foot back to the wooden floor to stabilize himself. Elladan moved some of Celebrían's coat over his head, also shaking.

Tarcil watched their behavior. "…We know now, mellyn."

The shame _burnt_ deeply.

"Master Elrond told us, so we understand what is happening...sort of. It would have been good to know _sooner_. Being aware of your ways, if you were still elves, none of this would have been forgivable."

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry.' The twins thought simultaneously.

"…But since things are not normal, you are forgiven."

Elladan unhid his face, Elrohir looked attentive, some of the hurt done already being mended.

"I understand that you are going through…quite the trial." Tarcil stumbled, slowly and awkwardly. "…that will break you out of your customs. If this is an omen of the gods, then it will do my men and I well to respect that as you make your way through this."

Elrohir approached the prince, Elladan as well. They went down flat on their stomachs and flattened their ears: the best they could do to imitate a bow, and to express their gratitude.

"But please," Gimlân spoke up with a plea. "Please leave our belongings alone. And leave my boots alone, they are the only pair I have left."

Elrohir and Elladan whined in embarrassment for having behaved in such a dog-like manner.

"Besides, now that we know, perhaps we can keep you occupied to divert your behavior if you…feel the need for destruction." Tarcil offered. "Since…you do not need to hide from us."

Elrond and Celebrían watched the scene in respective silence.

'This seemed to work.' The lady thought to her spouse.

'Hopefully they will listen to them…and not take ill advantage of this forgiveness. They may understand now, but if the same thing happens again they may not be too lenient.'

'Our sons are smarter than that. They looked guilty when I opened the lid. Like the prince said, we need to divert their attention as to not give into those urges…' Celebrían frowned. 'I wish it would not be this way. They are becoming animals for truth.'

'Do not despair. This is the only way to show them what they were doing before this, as an equivalent. The comparison is shocking.'

Celebrían sighed. 'I will endure the pain…I will simply take delight in how beautiful they are.'

Elrond smiled faintly. A mother's love and concern never disappears.

* * *

Glorfindel and Erestor stared at the disaster that was one of the _occupied_ guestrooms.

"This is horrible." The green-elf said, disturbed.

"The sooner we start assessing this, the sooner we can leave." Glorfindel said determinedly.

"Why can we not get someone else to do this?" Erestor, for once every few five hundred years, complained.

"You are not backing away from a challenge are you, Erestor?" Glorfindel questioned.

The counselor bit his cheek and got his courage back.

Tathardes stood in the back and out of sight (except Erestor knew, and he was presently trying to get her to help them), smiling at the scene.


	13. The Walk

_A/N On a good note: I already started the next part, because I split it from this chapter. :)_

 _I am not sure if listening to "Wild Child" by Enya while editing this made me feel any sympathy for the twins. I only imagined "OH COME ON!" from them._

 _We return to our Arnorian guests..._

* * *

Gimlân counted the strange events of his life as he stood on the balcony. He found very few things that could be counted as strange.

Thus, the image he watched from his perch contradicted with everything he ever thought possible. Tarcil strode throughout the Vale with two foxes walking before his path like hunting-hounds. Not foxes…well, yes foxes, but they were the _twins_.

Elves did not turn into animals, even though the history of the First Age mentioned a few cases of shapeshifting…and Elladan and Elrohir happened to be related to the figures that did shapeshift.

There were no second reasons.

When Elrond told them the tale, Gimlân viewed the entire household in a different light. A fearful light at that. Could _any_ of them turn into some sort of creature at any point in time?

Gimlân reminded himself that he was being unreasonable, and he started to laugh in a subdued manner. Why would he think such a thing? The advisor started sweating as he dwelled further on the idea and the imagery that came with it. Gimlân unintentionally imagined a Glorfindel-frog trying to get away from a diving Erestor-hawk…

"My friend, I did not expect to see you up here."

The older man jumped in his shoes and pivoted on his foot. He let out a long sigh as he saw it was only Tathardes.

The steward's lady looked gravely concerned, "Are you alright, Gimlân?"

"My lady, I am sorry, and yes, I am fine." Gimlân slowly turned around to watch the scene again. "I may be overwhelmed by recent news is all."

Tathardes walked to stand next to him. "I have heard. It must have made your stay here a little more interesting."

"I never would have thought about it until it happened…which it has." Gimlân furrowed his brows.

"It unsettles you?"

"It does not make sense! Alright, what I have been told has helped me to understand, but-"

"It will never fit in your mind."

Gimlân nodded weakly.

Tathardes looked at the man with pity. "I think you have thought overlong, my lord. Please, come back inside, I believe Erestor would like to speak to you. I will request some tea in the meantime."

Gimlân did not register the elf-maid pulling him to a walk by the arm. He followed mindlessly. "Lady, if you had to be transformed into an animal, what do you think the Valar would turn you into?"

Tathardes blinked. "If I were in the twins' situation, then my answer is that the Powers would choose whatever animal would be effective for their cause."

* * *

Tarcil had no clue why he had thought this was a clever idea.

He sat at his desk that morning in his thankfully undamaged room, mulling over what happened the day prior. It was…unexpected, but he finally had the answers to his questions. Though one question stayed: could he do anything to help? Why he asked this, because he had nothing to do.

All official business had been finished, so he could not do that. He could seek to learn from the farriers and smiths, but he had no interest in that. The activities he could do were boring in comparison to the adventure Elladan and Elrohir were having.

It was a forced adventure, obviously, and there were reasons behind it…But something told him he should try to offer his aid.

With this in his mind, Tarcil meandered through the hallways. He nearly missed Elladan and Elrohir as they snuck through the corridors, trying to be discreet. When the prince cast his eyes on them, they froze in their tracks and their silver eyes eerily watched his movements. Elladan's especially unnerved him, and were it not for the small size he would have made a fearsome black wolf.

Tarcil looked left and right to make sure no one would see what he was about to do, and he pointed to the outside while keeping the twins in his line of sight.

The brothers looked at each other, sounds escaping from their throats as they quietly exchanged a conversation with another. Elladan suddenly became mildly aggressive and Elrohir growled in return. Tarcil felt awkward as he watched this play out.

The next thing that followed involved the twins scampering away towards a nearby window and jumping out of it. Tarcil picked up his pace and leaned out said window. Elladan and Elrohir sat below it, their heads lifted and they looked to be waiting for the prince too.

Tarcil pulled himself together, feeling foolish. To his knowledge not many elves knew of this occurrence (Lindir was an exception). What would they do if they saw the prince of Arnor like this: about to talk to _foxes_ of all things?

"It would be unfair to you if the Vala or Valië did this to you without telling you why or leaving you in the dark." Tarcil began, "I believe you have been told how to amend this. Would you accept my being around you?"

The fox-twins canted their heads to the side.

The man assumed that meant a question, so he went on to elaborate. "There is no way for you to communicate what the requirements are for you to return to your normal forms. For this day alone, do I have your permission to follow you around the grounds? Could I be a key to this mystery?"

Two sets of ears perked simultaneously. Once more they engaged in a private conversation, this time they looked more agreeable with each other. Elrohir got up and stood on his hind legs, using the wall to support himself. After a few barks and a vain attempt at looking serious, Tarcil thought his offer had been accepted.

"Very well. I shall be out-"

"Who do you speak to, my lord?"

Tarcil straightened his back and quickly restored his dignified stance and turned his eyes towards Lindir. The elf's posture looked threatening for a minstrel.

"People." Tarcil answered vaguely.

"Really?" Lindir questioned in fake thoughtfulness and he too came to the window. He leaned out, "With all due respect, sire, I see no one."

The twins must have escaped. "Well, I was. You can believe me or not." Tarcil paused, "How is your hunt progressing?"

Lindir gave him a strange look at his first sentence before standing upright again. "I am afraid I have not been very successful as of late. But do not fear, I will find them and restore peace to the vale. I do apologize that I could not prevent the disasters that fell upon you and your men."

Tarcil strained to keep a straight face. "Have you sought help?"

"Oh, I have. But most think I have lost my mind, so I am alone in my hunt most the time." Lindir paused dangerously and he growled. "Our lord's sons have finally pressed the line!" He exclaimed in his anger, "They will pay for their slights!"

Tarcil took a step back at this outburst.

Lindir quickly gained his composure and put on a fake smile. "Forgive me, prince, I have been very stressed lately, what with composing a new song and learning new ones for the festival. Pray tell, though…Do you have any information that could help me?"

Tarcil looked over his shoulder then back to the revenge-bent elf. "I am late for a meeting. Excuse me, please." He replied hastily and resisted the temptation to _run_ as he left the premises.

Lindir stood in the hallway, all alone, and the corners of his eyes and mouth twitched.

* * *

The prince of Arnor did not know where to find the sons of Elrond. He had to get away from the minstrel to avoid further suspect. Sadly, Tarcil felt that he only affirmed some of Lindir's suspicions.

His quest to help has started out poorly.

Tarcil wandered, trying to keep a low profile while looking out for the twins. He neared the edge of a miniature forest when he heard a woof. Turning, Tarcil saw Elladan's head peeking out from a bush. Elladan stared at the man with a stand in look of annoyance before vanishing into the shrubbery.

Tarcil frowned. Was he supposed to follow them, or stay nearby? The prince made a wild guess and he pressed through the foliage.

He could not see his feet, but he could hear the scurrying of transformed elves throughout the general region. Abruptly, a half growl joined with a pained squeak sounded in the air and Tarcil realized what he did.

"Sorry." He apologized weakly. The man felt stupid and even more foolish. He stepped on one of their feet…PAWS, not feet! 'Oh gods, have I made a mistake? Please don't curse me!'

The afternoon had not even passed and he already felt his sanity deteriorate. Did he not have what it took to handle this strangeness? He knew what happened…Tarcil blamed it on the fact that this was completely out of place. This whole thing was out of place, and he should not be a part of it. Yet he was being a part of it, and Tarcil found it hard to decide if it was a bad choice or not. The feeling told him to be a part of this. If he did not go through with this, he might have felt guilty for the rest of his stay for not _trying_.

Finally, Tarcil broke free of the bushes, seeing that they had arrived in a smaller enclave. The prince watched the bushes for Elladan and Elrohir to appear. A few moments later, Elrohir limped out; his left paw lifted from the ground. Elladan trotted out and stared at Tarcil.

Tarcil's jaw tensed. "I am sorry, I could not see where you were."

He had never felt this uncomfortable before in his entire life.

Elrohir took a moment to stand in place, not making eye contact. Eventually he lowered his foot again and started walking normally; Elladan followed behind. Tarcil stayed standing for a moment longer before joining them in their stroll.

In _normal_ circumstances, they would be chatting away and relating with each other strange and wonderful adventures with each other. Tarcil could not do that, as the only people that could talk and understand each other were the brothers themselves. The prince of Arnor felt a tad lonely. In that respect, Tarcil let his mind wander and mull over the things concerning his own home: things not as bizarre as it was in Imladris at this moment in time.

The twins stopped walking at some point and the man simply walked right by them. Tarcil halted eventually, as he noticed the fox-twins were nowhere to be seen. He turned…finding Elrohir standing in place looking like he was in great discomfort, while Elladan held a small stick in his mouth trying to get the other end beneath his brother's collar.

Tarcil, befuddled once more, wondered why…

Oh.

 _Oh_.

Tarcil bit his lower lip and strode back to the twins, getting down on one knee. "Do you need help?"

The half-glares he received could have been interpreted in two different ways: 'Yes, you fool, it is obvious!' or 'We hoped you would not have noticed'.

Tarcil found no other signs of objection, so he proceeded to cautiously remove the collar as quickly as he could manage, to spare themselves further of strange emotions. Once the strap slipped off Elrohir's neck the twin ran to a tree and vigorously rubbed his neck up and down against the bark.

Tarcil slowly looked away and back to Elladan; the older brother stared with pleading eyes for the same release. The prince acquiesced, and the older brother ran to the same tree to scratch the itch.

Tarcil kept his back turned to the scene to allow them their privacy. He inspected the collars Arwen and Celebrían had made. The white collar bore a silver buckle in the shape of a star, and many small gems and precious stones swirled around the length of the leather like waves of the sea. In gold embroidery the Tengwar letter for 'E' was stitched in twice. The blue collar possessed no differences save for the color.

The prince stood on his feet again, as the twins were not going to be finishing any time soon.

"Hail, son of Arantar!"

'Oh no…' Tarcil groaned and turned to face the one who greeted him. "Mae govannen."

It was the jewel smith and his wife. He smiled politely at the prince. "I have been looking for you, you know, but I did not expect to meet here."

Tarcil blinked. "Have you now? I apologize if I have led you on quite a chase."

"Not to worry at all. See, I was told to send off gifts to your men, for reasons unknown." The smith held out something. "This happened to be in my stock. I have never seen it before, neither do I recall ever receiving it."

'It must be the recompense.' Tarcil took the object and examined it. It was a ring with a finely chiseled crystal set in the metal.

"A fair gift fit for royalty." The elf-maid spoke.

"Did you have part in this, lady?"

The maiden smiled, "Why yes, prince."

Tarcil nodded. "I am grateful for this." He bowed his head. "Thank you."

The two elves bowed in return before moving on their way.

Tarcil stood there for many minutes: one hand holding the ring while the other held the collars. Speaking of the _owners_ of the collars, were they…

Tarcil thought his brain was going to leak out through his ears at the shrieking that suddenly filled the region. Stunned, he failed seeing the ground rush to meet his face, or the two weights that pushed against his back.

The prince laid face first in the dirt, heart pounding and ears ringing. He blinked stupidly and raised his head, wondering what the void _just_ happened. Before him he saw the ring on the ground: it must have fallen out of his hand. Tarcil blinked very slowly when he noticed the twins, all puffed up like angry cats (except they did not look angry, it looked more like shock) as they wavered from side to side.

Tarcil discerned people running. Suddenly Celebrían and Gimlân came into the scene. Celebrían stared with motherly worry at her children, wondering why they looked more like fluffy pillows than before.

Gimlân had bug eyes. "My lord, what happened?"

Tarcil's eyes slowly drifted back to the ring. "I think…I may have learned something to this riddle."


	14. The Ring

_A/N I don't think I knew where this chapter would go...You kind of get lost when it's chapters written over the span of days instead of one sitting (in the case of my chapter word ranges...). Still, the imagery made me snicker, and progress has been made. :)_

 _Sorry if the structuring is rough._

 _I had a thought about school coming back...That's going to be a whirlwind._

* * *

Elladan and Elrohir thanked the stars for the removal of the collars. They itched like they never did before and they could finally get some form of relief. Both hoped they were not going to be forced to have baths in the near future.

Having the prince of Arnor in their company felt strange. They wished they could tell the man that he was not alone in that feeling. They were more than acquaintances, but were not close friends.

Elladan and Elrohir appreciated the attempt at respect…yet being stepped on may have lowered that appreciation.

They really did not know what to do, hence their aimless wandering. There were no signs that told them that they were close to finding anything. Tarcil offering to walk with them would not have changed anything.

Except it did.

The twins noticed Tarcil speaking to the smith and his spouse. The two stayed hidden from sight while the normal people conversed. When the elves left, they tried seeing what it was Tarcil had been gifted with. They saw the glimmer, then the shape and source of the glimmer…

'GIVE US THE CRYSTAL!' the brothers screamed as they charged at the man and purposely knocked him over. Once the ring fell out of Tarcil's hand they scrammed towards it. When Elrohir's nose brushed the gem, they were stilled into shock as if struck by lightning. They felt very undignified about the extra puff added to their appearance, yet that was hardly acknowledged, as the entire world seemed to move in a haze.

'You cannot have what is not given to you,' said a voice to their minds.

Elrohir felt his heart stop and managed to not think any thought.

Elladan, instead, revealed his foolishness with his impatience. He was tired of being scolded and being forced to do things he had no desire to do. 'This is unfair to us! Why do you force us to wait so long for _one_ crystal? We will be stuck in these forms for the rest of the year at this rate!'

'You did not become who you are over the span of a week, my child,' answered the voice softly. 'You have made much progress already by willingly allowing one to aid you. But where is the honor in thieves?'

…

The twins forced their minds to be blank and they stared longingly at the ring.

'Do not be discouraged,' the voice warned. 'But if you dwell on it overlong then you will fall into temptation, and your work thus far will be made void. You know what you must do: now seek the others.'

Elladan and Elrohir felt the haze on their thoughts lift, but not the shock to their bodies. They were frozen in place and their discernment fuzzy.

'Why us?' Elladan managed to wheeze out.

'Look what we have done, brother.' Elrohir mourned. 'We have summoned a crowd.'

The spell released its captives and the twins shook: their fur settling back down to not be so fluffy. Elladan and Elrohir's ears flattened down against their heads seeing the amount of people present.

Celebrían and Tarcil were shooing everyone away; only mildly successful. Gimlân stood looking unsure; holding the ring: the cause of their present woe. The smith and his lady had returned. They also looked confounded as they stared unknowingly at their lord's sons.

Worse, the brothers thought they could smell hunting-minstrel making his way to the enclave too.

Oh, what fools they have made themselves. All because they had found a piece of the key to their restoration.

It was not _fair_.

Elladan and Elrohir could have cared less about being stared at, being used to it now, but they did not know what else to do. In the end, they darted into the forest.

* * *

"I am fine! Please, do not pay mind to that sound you just heard and move on with your day!" Tarcil insisted.

"We never sensed anything amiss. Why did they attack you?"

"I am sure I deserved to be attacked."

"Please," Celebrían intervened. "There is nothing to fear."

"Where are they?! I know I heard them!"

The six people who came to the scene turned towards the newcomer. Tarcil; Celebrían especially, had to conceal their shock seeing Lindir with a giant butterfly net in his hands. The mother would have to do something about that.

"Why do you carry a net meant for squirrels?" Someone asked. "You further make yourself a fool! Have you no dignity, Lindir?"

"Sacrifices must be made, and I am willing to make that sacrifice." Lindir grinned widely and looked around. "Where did they go, prince? I will go after them."

"That will not be necessary." Celebrían shot one of her famous looks, effectively quieting the minstrel and making him fearful. "Please, everything is well. Be on your way."

Even though they were very curious, they respected the lady's wishes and made their departure. Lindir was reluctant, but he followed suit; in a different direction.

Celebrían sighed and turned to the prince. "What happened?"

Tarcil placed a hand to his forehead. "I do not know. Gimlân?"

"What is this?" The advisor held the piece of jewelry out.

Tarcil took the ring and held it out to Celebrían, _not_ wanting to have that in his possession anymore. "Your sons desired this, and I do not understand why."

The lady frowned and examined the jewel. It looked ordinary from what she could tell. "I am not sure either. I see no clear reason why they would seek this out, especially in such a desperate manner."

Tarcil nodded. "Hence my idea that this is linked to this riddle." The man blinked and looked around. "…Where did they go?"

Gimlân and Celebrían turned in various directions, looking for the twins. Celebrían groaned in frustration.

Tarcil looked to the collars he still had in his hand, and back to the forest. 'This does not bode well…'

* * *

Elrohir and Elladan found a bush to hide in and ponder. Elrohir paced back and forth while Elladan was on his back, paws tucked in near his chest.

'Have to ask…find a way to ask for the ring.' Elrohir thought out loud.

Elladan made a sound akin to a dog moan. 'I doubt that will work.'

Elrohir bared his teeth. 'It would be given _willingly_.'

'It would be, but I have doubts that begging will be satisfactory.'

Elrohir sat himself down and stared. 'Then explain to me how else we are going to get our message across.'

'I am working on it.'

Elrohir growled and started pacing again. 'Or you are just trying to preserve your pride again.'

Elladan returned the gesture. 'There has to be a way to keep some form of dignity without groveling for our needs! Maybe we should _not_ ask for the ring.'

'And then what? The ring may pass onto another owner who does not know our predicament, by which we are doomed to live this way forever, if no other grace is given to us.' Elrohir turned his head. 'We have to come to an agreement if we are to move forward.'

Elladan would have scowled if he could. Why could it not be simpler?

Elrohir tried _very_ hard not to run up to the nearby tree and start itching again. The removal of the collar made the sensation more noticeable and unbearable. Unable to avoid the need any longer, he started heading for the nearby stream.

Elladan tilted his head, rolled over onto his feet, and shook the dirt out of his fur. He too felt the urge and had to keep his back foot on the ground by sheer willpower. Elladan followed his brother's trail. The older twin had to stop to register what he was beholding when he arrived.

Elrohir lay sideways in the stream, allowing small rivulets to flow over his legs and against his body. Already his fur looked soaked, but it would not be enough to remove all the dirt without outside scrubbing...which Elladan was _not_ going to consent to.

Ignoring the bubbles coming out of Elrohir's nose, Elladan quietly walked a bit further down the stream and stuck his feet in the water. It cooled them down instantly, and shortly after he laid down in the water and let it wash over him.

'Yes…this is _completely_ normal.'

* * *

Elrond fingered the white ring. It was only him and Celebrían in the room. Tarcil had given her the collars before Gimlân pulled the king's son away to the safety of his circle. The lady then headed to give Elrond the details, as the scream the twins gave could not have been missed.

"There is nothing unique or abnormal about this." Elrond set the ring down on the table.

"Tarcil claims it made Elladan and Elrohir react in a crazed way…I want to see if this is the cause for that."

"I heard them," Elrond glanced out the window. "I wish there was a way for us to understand clearly what is happening. Going off by impressions and guesses does not make it easier."

Celebrían worried over the collars. "I need to speak with Lindir…and I may need your help in doing that."

Elrond blinked, "Why do you need my help?"

Celebrían eyed her husband. "Our sons may have damaged his mind, dear, and I believe he seeks to reciprocate that. You are the only person who can truly amend the damage."

Elrond had an interesting expression. "You mean the only person who can truly get through to his head?"

"Oh no. I could do that myself, but you do it more effectively. And as I said: you can heal him while I cannot."

Elrond took in a breath to release some of his tension. "I will make an appointment. Later." He held out a hand and Celebrían took it. After grabbing the ring, they walked out.

They were in one of the larger chambers of the house when they were bombarded with questions.

"What is plaguing us?"

"Is the prince unharmed?"

"Why are there strange sounds echoing throughout our home?"

"Where are my shoes?"

Elrond and Celebrían answered each question respectfully, except for the random ones. They escaped the crowd and made it to the outside.

"I feel tempted to make a giant cage for those two and keep them there." Elrond looked stiff in his forced effort to look calm.

"You know that would not help them at all." Celebrían answered gently, knowing her lord could explode again at any moment. Seeing what their sons were doing to their people's sense of security could wear down a man's tolerance.

"I can imagine it. It helps me to not go through with it." Elrond looked pleadingly at Celebrían. "Where did we go wrong?"

Celebrían smiled sympathetically and patted his arm.

Their ears twitched hearing the shrubs rustle and the sounds of what sounded like complaining. It was not coming from an elf or man…so they stood still and waited for their troublesome offspring to appear.

Out emerged two wet foxes with muddy legs and sides. Elladan and Elrohir looked upset and they argued while they walked.

Elrond cleared his throat and it caught their attention.

Celebrían tutted mentally.

The twins had looks of resignation when they realized where and who they were with and they got onto the ground. They were tired of fighting.

Elrond and Celebrían walked over to a bench and sat down. The elf-lord pulled the ring out, "Come here."

The twins obeyed, and they looked _very_ alert at the sight. Their eyes expressed a great want for this thing, and they showed a lot of restraint to not leap at it.

'This confirms it…' Elrond thought. "Do you need this?"

The twins nodded, desperately. Their substitute looks of wanting help touched his heart.

Elrond opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. Something pulled at his mind; at his better judgement. Do not give them the ring…Simply giving it to them would be too easy, and to his understanding, this was not supposed to be easy. They had to work for it.

Besides, there might be more for them to learn, so whether they had this item or not would not change much.

Elrond had to suppress his emotions for what he thought was the wiser course. He withdrew the ring from sight. "It is well that you have made progress…For your sake however, this shall be locked away with me for the time being. I would not risk it being misplaced."

He could not read his sons' expressions. They looked mildly disappointed by his words, but they seemed to understand the wisdom behind it. Celebrían stared with a bit of incredulity; though she understood the reasoning too.

* * *

'Of course it would be this way.' Elladan reckoned sourly.

The brothers' attempt at giving themselves baths only served to increase the need for one. The dirt turned to mud; it clung in clumps in their fur and they felt grimy and unkempt, _and_ itchier. And keeping up appearances were important to those raised in elven society, especially at times of peace. They were irritated as a result.

They had not really intended to run into their parents either…though the stream they blindly ran to happened to be near a family garden. It seemed these meetings were designed to happen at convenient moments. It no longer could be coincidence.

As such, they were wearied by the constant running and seeking and could not muster the energy to fight anymore.

Elladan did not like to hear that the ring would be kept from them for an unknown period of time, but he appreciated that his mother and father understood the need. Still, if they could have it in their possession...that would make him giddy with happiness.

"Are there more items like this you must seek out?" Elrond asked.

Elladan nodded; he knew Elrohir did too.

Elrond smirked, "Then you should feel glad that you have that in your defense. You would not have the amount of freedom you do now if it were otherwise."

'I am sure being tethered is still a possibility for us.' Elladan amended.

"There is one thing," Celebrían spoke at last.

Elladan looked at her, apprehensive. What could be the problem now?

Celebrían gazed at them regretfully. "I cannot have you both tromping through our home with all that mud."

Elladan's head dropped face first into the dirt like he had passed out while Elrohir made an undignified whine. He should not have expected anything less.

"I will leave you to it," Elrond stood up. "There is something I must see to that may help you in your wanderings."

'It does not matter, Ada.' Elladan ignored the gentle nudge Celebrían made with her foot to prompt him to get up to face the inevitable. 'It does not matter at all.'


End file.
